Slow Burn
by JamiW
Summary: Twelfth installment in the "Free" series, set after Protecting the Innocent.  BA, MC, RR, LR, and more
1. Chapter 1

**Alex POV**

* * *

I woke to the ringing of the phone and I felt completely disoriented.

"Phone," Bobby muttered, although he didn't make any move to get it.

Of course, in his defense, it was the landline, which was on my side of the bed.

"I can hear it," I grumbled. "What time is it?"

And yeah, it was a stupid question because the clock was on my side of the bed, too.

Right next to the phone.

So if I would just roll over and answer the obnoxiously loud piece of equipment then I'd be able to see for myself what time it was.

"Don't know," he replied.

He had his arm thrown over my waist, anchoring my hips against his, and his face was nestled against the top of my head.

The room was dark which told me that it was too damn early for the phone to be ringing.

And yet it was.

It stopped after six rings.

"Oh thank God," I mumbled as I slipped a leg in between his. He responded by running his hand down over my backside, squeezing me even closer to him.

"I think I'm awake now," he whispered as his hands began to roam over me in earnest.

"But the alarm hasn't gone off yet," I argued, even though I had a pretty good idea of how he wanted to spend the next however long we had until it was time to get up.

"Exactly."

I tilted my head up and he brought his lips down onto mine for a slow, easy kiss.

And yeah, I like my sleep, but if the alternative is this, I don't ever need to sleep again.

But then my cell phone started to ring.

"You have got to be kidding me," I said as I forced myself to pull away from him so that I could turn to retrieve the phone.

The clock showed that it was four-fifty.

"It could be Ross," he offered, and even though I now had my back to him, he continued to run his hands over me.

"It had better not be."

I picked up the phone

"Goren," I answered, not making any effort to mask my grouchiness.

"I was almost hoping you'd answer Eames. You know, to make it feel even more like old times."

"Captain…"

"Um…it's Chief now," he corrected, and I could just hear him smirking.

Of course, I knew the title change. I was just being difficult since he was obviously enjoying the early morning phone call.

"Right. And it's Goren. So as much as you probably wish I'd kept my name…"

"Still not a morning person, I see," he chuckled.

"That's right. And we don't start for at least three more hours. There is no way we're on the call list."

"You're not. And I'm sorry to bother you, but there was a special request for you two, and I approved it since…well, like you said. You're on in three hours."

Because yeah, we were going back to Major Case.

Bobby and I had reached our decision over the weekend leading up to our Monday morning meeting with then-Captain Ross.

Mike and Carolyn had made the same choice so all four of us had to report for duty at eight o'clock this morning.

In the meeting that day, Ross had suggested that we not start until April so that we would have plenty of time to get our business ready for the transition.

And by transition, I mean get it ready for my dad.

Because we weren't ready to complete dissolve it yet, so Bobby had suggested that we use Dad to watch the store while the four of us went back to playing detective.

Dad had been thrilled.

"_You want me to take over your business?"_ he'd asked. _"So you're going back to the department?"_

"_For now,"_ I'd told him. _"Ross wants us to do it on a six-month trial period to make sure that it's working for everyone. So we don't want to close up shop just yet and Bobby thought that you might enjoy getting back into the mix."_

That was a little over three weeks ago.

Over the course of the next few weeks, my dad came to the office every day so that he could get a feel for how we did business.

He brought in his old partner from back in the day and said that between the two of them they'd be able to keep up with our same work load.

The work load that the _four_ of us did.

"_We won't be wasting time making goo-goo eyes at each other,_" my dad had explained wryly. "_We'll be able to knock out cases in no time."_

"_Just don't get in over your head,"_ I'd warned him, although I loved his enthusiasm.

It seemed to have given him a new zest for life.

But right now, I wasn't thinking about that.

Right now, I was wondering what in the hell had made me want to go back to getting calls in the wee hours of the morning.

To getting dragged from a warm bed.

To being interrupted mere moments away from early-morning sex.

"Special request?" I questioned Ross.

And as I spoke, I sat up in the bed. Bobby did, too.

Because yeah, even though the first moments of being awakened unexpectedly are a little rough, I knew exactly why we'd chosen to go back.

We loved working for the NYPD.

We loved having our badges.

And I don't just mean the hardware itself, because yeah, we both still had those.

But we wanted all that those badges stood for, too.

For the longest time, working for the department had been all I'd ever wanted to do, and the fact of the matter was that neither of us would've ever left if things had been different.

If Ross had been more accepting of us, sooner.

If Moran hadn't tried to screw Bobby over.

If it hadn't suddenly felt like it was me and him against the entire NYPD.

But sometimes it takes leaving to put things into better perspective.

And that went both ways.

So after three months away, we were ready to go back and they were excited to have us back.

Because resuming our positions at Major Case now…with Ross firmly in our corner…it was going to be great.

"A request from your brother," Ross answered. "Kevin. An acquaintance of his was found dead an hour ago."

"Who is it?" I asked immediately. I certainly didn't know all of Kevin's friends, but I knew quite a few of them.

"Dominick Eckhart. Do you know him?"

"No."

"Good. I wouldn't want there to be a conflict of interest. Kevin insisted that you two work the case."

"He insisted? Why didn't he just call me?"

But even as I asked the question, I knew the answer.

Kevin was as straight-arrow as they come. He went by the book, at all times, without question.

As kids, he'd been the one Dad would look to when he wanted the truth.

Sean would just flat out fabricate the most fantastic story imaginable.

I was more subtle, but still creative with the facts.

Cathy would just burst into tears and never say a word.

But Kevin…he would always come clean.

_You want to know what happened to your car, Dad? Well, see, Alex thought it would be a good idea if…_

_How did the window get broken? Well, Sean was playing baseball and… _

So even though he'd decided to ask for me and Bobby, I had no doubt that he'd still gone through all of the proper channels.

He'd probably called his captain, and then maybe even taken it one step further and called the division chief, and then offered to call the Chief of Detectives himself.

"He wanted to make it official," Ross replied, confirming my suspicion. "And actually, when I say that Eckhart was found dead, I mean that Kevin was the one who found him. He called it in."

"Eckhart is a firefighter?"

Firemen were considered to be ours. If one was murdered, it was automatically a Major Case.

"That's right. So, are you awake now?"

"I'm good. Where?"

He gave me the address, which I committed to memory.

"We'll be there in an hour," I told him.

"Great," he replied. "And Detective…it's good to have you back."

I hung up with Ross and glanced at Bobby, who was now up and heading for the shower.

"Kevin got us assigned," I told him. "A firefighter's body was left in Hell's Kitchen."

"On duty? Or off?"

"Off. But that's all I know," I said. I got up and followed him into the bathroom.

He turned on the shower water and then caught my eye.

"Okay," he said with a nod. "So, we're back."

"We're back."

An hour later, we arrived at the scene of the crime.

And I have to admit to getting a bit of a rush from the moment. We got out of the car with our badges clipped to our jackets and the beat cops who were guarding the perimeter parted like the Red Sea.

Bobby held up the crime scene tape for me and I slipped beneath it. I saw Kevin on the other side of the street talking with an officer, but I wasn't ready to hear his story yet.

Of course, he was my brother, and this had been someone he knew, so I did take a moment to make eye contact with him.

He seemed like he was holding it together okay.

He gave me a nod and a look of appreciation and then turned his focus back to the officer.

I continued down the alley with Bobby right on my heels as we headed for the body which was still laid out on the pavement.

"Detectives Goren and Goren," Rodgers called out to us with a half-smile on her face. "We meet again."

"It's nice to know that Ross is non-discriminatory when waking people from a sound sleep. He got you out of bed, too, huh?" I replied as my eyes scanned the area.

The area was going to be a nightmare for CSU. The alley had most likely been a squat for addicts, so there would be plenty of evidence to gather. The difficult task would be determining which of the collected evidence would have anything to do with our victim.

And besides that, what the hell had a firefighter, a friend of Kevin's, been doing here?

"Do we really want to open that door?" Liz teased in reference to my question.

And it was nice to see her back on her game.

She'd struggled a bit over the past month. Dealing with the psychological ramifications of not only being the victim of a brutal attack, but also knowing that the attack was meant as payback on someone else, well…tough was an understatement.

But Liz was a fighter and she seemed to have learned the fine art of communication, too, so I thought that she was making progress.

And now, to hear her joking about her and Ross in bed together, well…I was thrilled to hear it.

"You're right," I said. "I'll save it for ladies' night. So what have we got?"

As I asked the question, I continued my visual scan of the crime scene.

But the more I looked I decided that _crime scene_ wasn't the right term.

Dump site would be better because it didn't look to me like there was enough blood for him to have been killed here.

Which answered my question about why Kevin's friend had come here…he hadn't.

Not until after he was dead.

"Your victim has multiple stab wounds to the back," she began, switching easily into professional mode.

"Not much blood here," Bobby commented, obviously having picked up on the same fact as me.

He snapped on a pair of gloved and squatted down next to Liz.

Three months gone and yet we were right back in our groove. He always liked getting a closer look at the body while I inspected the surroundings.

I think that it used to make Liz feel like he was checking up on her, making sure that she didn't miss anything, but by now she realized that that was just Bobby.

The bodies seemed to speak to him and he could gather more insight from his five minute inspection of the victim than most ME's could in an autopsy.

"Exactly. This is not your murder site. See this?" she asked, pointed at the exposed forearms of the man. "He's got drag marks on his arms. Nothing extensive, but…"

"Like someone parked and then pulled him out," Bobby supplied.

"It's like you never left," she responded dryly.

"So what's the TOD?" I asked her.

"For now, I'm going to put it at around midnight. But he's either been here for awhile, or he was in a car in the exact same position," she told us. "The lividity fits this precise prone position."

I looked around the alley again and decided that I need to amend my previous burning question.

I knew what had brought our victim to the alley.

His killer.

But what the hell had Kevin been doing out here at this time of night?

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**Bobby POV**

* * *

Being back was even better than I'd expected.

I knew that it was the right decision since I couldn't stop thinking about it.

During the entire poker game, my mind kept drifting back to the offer.

Could we do it?

Could we go back and have it all?

I thought that maybe we could.

But I didn't want to sway Alex's opinion. So we'd discussed it all weekend, the pros and the cons, without either of us stating what was in our hearts.

And then we'd gotten out pen and paper.

"_What if they're different?"_ she'd asked.

Because we were each going to write down what we wanted to do.

"_Then we'll talk some more,"_ I'd said.

I didn't have a better answer for her. I didn't want to quit working with her, but I also didn't want to keep her from doing what she wanted to do. And she wouldn't want that for me, either.

So we'd each written down our choice and then swapped papers.

And not only did we have the same answer, but we had the _exact_ same answer.

I mean, we'd written it the same way.

_**I want my badge back.**_

We'd both broken out into full grins and then we'd celebrated by going out to Steve-O's. We hadn't been there in a long time, but we felt like it was time to go back.

So we had a nice dinner and as we were finishing up, Mike called me.

"We've made our decision," he'd told me.

"Us, too," I'd said. "We're at Steve-O's. Come on over and we'll have a beer and talk about it."

And the rest, of course, is history.

They both wanted to give it a shot, too, so we met with Ross the next morning and discussed the particulars.

Six-month trial period. If at the end, any one of us was unhappy with the arrangement, there would be no hard feelings.

We stayed as partners. Of course that was a given and had been a key factor in all of our decisions.

We had investigative carte blanche with cases. Mostly. We wouldn't have to check in with Ross to determine our best course of action. He did still want us to keep him apprised but more for knowledge than approval.

And if another case came up like the Adam Jennings case, we also had the right to look the other way.

I wasn't sure how Ross was going to make that work with the commissioner, but he'd willingly agreed to it so I was going to trust him to deal with it.

I think we probably could've asked him for private offices and secretaries and he would've gone along with it. He was that happy to have us back.

Boy, I never thought I'd see the day when the NYPD would be tap dancing for me.

Of course, Ross was our friend now so it wasn't like I was gloating. Much. But it was a nice ego boost to be so highly sought-after.

The four of us agreed to keep our business running at minimum capacity, which was why I'd suggested bringing in Johnny Eames.

He needed something to do because some men just aren't cut out for retirement.

And he'd been a good cop. He knew how to handle an investigation.

And between us two couples, we figured that we could each work a night or two a week just to help keep things running smoothly.

Besides, if Johnny stuck with consultations and cold cases, how dangerous could it be?

It scored me a few brownie points, too. Not that that was why I'd done it, but still…it didn't hurt.

So after nearly a month of careful planning, we were ready to go back to work.

Admittedly, I'd been ready for a different kind of work altogether when Ross had called at four-fifty in the morning to let us know about the case, but I could put that on the back burner for now.

_Work now, relationship later_.

Isn't that what I used to always say? And I still _did_ say that when we were on a case.

As long as we made sure that we made time for the relationship, we were going to be fine.

And we always made time.

Things between us were so much better than I'd ever imagined they could be.

So like I said, as I clipped my badge on my jacket and watched Alex do the same, I couldn't help but feel a sense of gratification.

We _did_ have it all.

We got to the murder site and it turned out to not be the murder site at all.

Just a place to dump the body.

I checked out the victim while Liz filled us in on the details of what she knew so far.

"For now, I'm going to put it at around midnight," she said in response to Alex's question about the time of death.

We'd been called at almost five, and Ross had said that the body had been found the hour before, so that meant roughly four.

Four hours between time of death and discovery of the body.

"But he's either been here for awhile, or he was in a car in the exact same position," she continued. "The lividity fits this precise prone position."

And speaking of discovery of the body, what the hell had Kevin been doing out here?

Last I'd heard, he was on nights, and this place was no where near his fire house.

"We need to talk to Kevin," I said to Alex. She was nodding before I even finished my statement, and she had a concerned look on her face. She was wondering the same thing.

"I should be able to get him on the table this morning," Liz said as she and I both got to our feet. "I've got one ahead of him, but it won't take long."

"Great," Alex said. "Thanks, Liz."

"Ready?" I asked Alex as I tipped my head toward the street where Kevin was waiting. I'd seen him when we came in and I'd briefly considered going to offer my condolences.

But now I was going to have to question him.

"He asked for us," Alex said quietly as we walked toward the perimeter. She must have sensed my reluctance. "He had to know that we'd have questions for him. I'm not going to feel bad about having to ask."

"Okay," I said. "What do you think?"

"I have no idea. This place is a good forty blocks from the fire station. Kevin should've been at work."

I held the yellow tape up and waited while Alex passed underneath and then I followed her across the street.

"We'll take it from here," I told the officer who continued to stand with Kevin.

"And you are…" the cop questioned smartly.

"Detective Goren, Major Case," I told him as I tapped my finger against my badge.

Damn, it felt good to say that again.

And it garnered the same response that it used to.

"Okay, Detective," he acquiesced. "He's all yours."

Once we were alone with Kevin, Alex gave him a quick hug.

"Are you okay?" she asked him quietly.

"Yeah," he answered. She stepped back from him so then I shook his hand.

"Dominick was a friend?" I asked.

I wanted to know so that I could ascertain Kevin's level of emotional involvement with the victim, but he squared his stance and prepared himself for our questions.

I guess he wanted to go ahead and get the hard part over with.

"He worked with me," he stated ambivalently.

"Kevin, you're going to have to be straight with us and tell us everything," Alex said. "You requested us for a reason."

"That's right. I did."

"Okay, well, you got us. So start from the beginning. How long have you known Dominick?"

"Dom started working with us about six months ago. And he's good, but maybe a little reckless. I kind of took him under my wing."

"You mentored him?"

"Yeah. We worked nights together."

"Did you know him from outside of work, too?"

"Just a little. I mean, I know him from talking to him, but we didn't hang out much or anything. I've got enough on my plate with Kendra and the kids. I don't have time for hanging out with a twenty-four year old single man."

"Does he have family?"

"No one that he ever talked about."

I caught Alex's eye and just looked at her for a minute. We'd been skirting around what we really wanted to know but I was going to let her get to it at her own pace.

"Why do you think he was killed?" she asked him.

"I don't know."

"You said that he was single," I stated. "So no girlfriend?"

"More like lots of girlfriends. He had a way about him…I don't know. He attracted women like flies on shit."

"That's a lovely analysis," Alex remarked. "It almost sounds like maybe you were a little jealous of him. So he was a real player?"

"Yes, he was. And no, I wasn't. You know me better than that, Alex," he chastised.

"Kev, you know I have to do this. So right now, I'm Detective Goren. And in a situation like this, the person who found the body has to be on the suspect list."

He sighed and then glanced at me before nodding his head.

"Okay," she continued. "So was there any animosity between you and Dominick?"

"No, not at all."

"What about other guys at the fire station?"

"Everyone liked him."

"Let's go back to the fact that he was a player," I said. "How so?"

"Well, I had a beer with him one night before shift and we hadn't been in the place five minutes before he had this woman slipping him her phone number. He hadn't even asked for it. Then he got two more before we left."

"You said he had a lot of girlfriends. Were any of these women actively pursuing him?" I asked.

"You mean do I think one hated him enough to kill him? No."

"Are you sure?" Alex questioned. "Because I know you saw the body. It looks to me like a crime of passion."

"Dom wasn't shy about being a player. He was honest with the women he picked up and he avoided the clingy type."

"Okay," Alex said with a nod. "Okay, you know I have to ask, right?"

"Ask what?"

"Where were you between eleven and one?" I supplied so that Alex wouldn't have to get an alibi from her own brother.

I watched him as he opened his mouth a couple of times, but nothing came out. Then he stared at the ground for a minute before bringing his eyes back up to mine.

"I was at the fire station until eleven-thirty," he said. "And then I left."

"To go where?"

"I was looking for Dom."

"Looking for him? Why?"

"He was supposed to be on shift."

"You were searching for him for four and a half hours?"

"No. I went back to work around one when I couldn't find him."

"Then you left again…when?"

"Three-thirty."

I caught Alex's eye again.

This was the all-important question, and for some reason it also seemed to be something that Kevin was hoping to avoid explaining.

"Which means that you must have come straight here," I stated. "Why? How did you know that he'd be here?"

"I should've known it wouldn't take you two long to ask that question," he muttered. "Although you did a nice job of pretending like it wasn't the very first thing you wanted to ask."

"Kevin, why did you request us?" Alex asked him. "You knew Major Case would get this. Any of the detectives in the department would've been able to work it."

"But they might have been distracted."

"By what?"

"Dom was a functioning addict," Kevin admitted.

"He was into drugs?"

"Yes. Cocaine."

"But you don't think that drugs had anything to do with his murder, is that it? You were afraid that anyone else would write it off as a drug deal gone wrong and close the case," Alex stated.

"Exactly. Look, he did coke. He didn't do it while he was at work, but he pretty much did it the rest of the time. This was where he came to make his buys."

"In the alley where his body was dumped?" I asked.

"Yeah, but he got along with his dealer. And Dom was a good customer for him, so why would he kill him?"

"You have a better theory?" I questioned, although I almost believed him.

Because drug dealers didn't usually stab their victims multiple times in the back.

Especially when the victim was good paying customer.

Aside from that, dealers didn't usually bother with moving the body after they killed someone.

"Last week Dom told me that he thought someone had been following him."

"You think he had a stalker?"

"I don't know. I just know that he was a little freaked out about it. He said that he'd seen the same red car outside of his building three nights in a row."

"Maybe it was someone who lived there."

"I'm just telling you what he told me. He said that same car was also near the fire station two days ago."

"Why would someone be following him?"

"I don't know," he said again. "But when we finished our shift yesterday morning, Dom gave me a spare key to his place. He said that I was the only friend he could trust, and if something happened to him, he wanted me to take his dog."

"What did he think was going to happen?"

We all looked toward the street where Liz's crew was loading the body into the back of the coroner's van.

"I'm guessing…._that_."

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

**Logan POV**

* * *

Despite being excited and nervous about going back, I slept like a baby until the alarm went off.

I reached out a hand and turned it off while keeping my other hand tangled in Carolyn's hair. She had her head resting on my chest and one leg thrown over mine. I knew that the alarm had awakened her, but she made no move to get up, so I didn't either.

"Are we making a mistake?" she finally asked, her voice not much more than a whisper.

"Do you think that we are?"

"Don't answer my question with a question," she chastised lightly. "I'm being serious. Do you think that we're making a mistake? That _I'm_ making one?"

"No. We haven't cut any ties. If we go back, and it's not good, then we pick back up with the business. No harm done."

"It doesn't have to be _we_."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if _I_ can't do this…if I don't fit in…"

And now we were finally at the root of it.

Carolyn has always been a loner.

And I don't mean in the same sense that I was a loner.

I mean, I like people.

I just don't trust them or let them get too close.

I always felt like a lonely person in a crowded room.

But for a long time, she has been literally alone.

Before me, I mean.

But still…she was worried about having to work well with others. She liked to work things out in her own head and sometimes it was hard for her to be part of a group.

She'd struggled with that in the Bureau and it had been a long time since she'd been in Major Case. A lot longer than it had been for me.

But what she didn't realize was that she'd already crossed that hurdle.

"Sweetheart, you _do_ fit in. You've been fitting in for six months now, ever since Bobby called us at two in the morning to ask us to stash Liz at our place."

"Sure, I fit with Bobby and Alex," she agreed cautiously. "But…"

"And Lupo and Bernard," I reminded her.

"Well, that's true," she admitted.

"And Ross," I continued. "Face it. You're not so hard to get along with any more."

"I was hard to get along with before?" she asked, but I could feel her body relaxing.

"You were damn near impossible," I teased. "Do you remember that case we had with that woman…what was her name? Lydia. The supposed healer."

"Yeah, you got poison ivy," she said as she began to move her fingers over my chest. "You picked up her candle stick."

"Uh huh. That's the one. And you kept spouting off all of that voodoo crap at me the whole time."

"It's not crap, Mike. It's…"

"I know. It's a belief. But that case…you know, you scared me to death that day in the interrogation room. I thought you were really going to drink that concoction."

"I had to make it look to her like I would."

"I know, but...it looked to _me_ like you would, too. And I knew you believed, so there was a moment when…I don't know. I thought maybe you were going to do it just to prove a point."

She trailed her finger down my stomach and my muscles tightened in anticipation.

"You cared about me even though you thought I was nuts, huh?"

"I was in love with you," I corrected. And as she closed her hand around me, I added, "Even though I thought you were nuts."

She chuckled but didn't let up on her movements and I let my eyes fall closed as I tightened my grip on her, pulling her closer to me.

"We did have some good times together, didn't we?" she murmured.

"Yes we did."

"Until I had to leave and screw everything up."

At her words, I reached down and put my hand over hers, stilling her motion. I waited until she looked up at me before I spoke.

"Is that why you want to go back? Because you feel like you need to make up for what happened?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know."

"There is nothing that you need to make up for. It wasn't your fault that things happened like they did. Moran set that ball rolling. You did what you did to save my career."

"I should've told you."

"Sweetheart, we've been over this. You have to let it go. Yeah, you should've told me. And I should've told you that I was in love with you as soon as I figured it out for myself. But you didn't. And I didn't. And none of that matters anymore because here we are now and this is exactly where I want to be."

She was quiet for a moment and then she scooted up closer so that she could kiss me.

It was just a fleeting touch, but then she did it again. And again.

In between kisses, she said, "You've been working on that romance thing, haven't you?"

"I think you just bring it out in me."

"We're good for each other, aren't we?" she asked as she continued to press her lips against mine.

"You have to ask?"

She moved over me so that she was stretched out on top of me and the next kiss wasn't so brief.

In fact, it was downright inspiring.

In one swift motion, I rolled us over and pushed into her.

"We're going to be late on our first day back," she said, although her sigh of approval belied her words.

"I can be quick," I said with a grin. "Can you?"

"No," she laughed as she put both of her hands on my butt. "And neither can you. So take your time and do it right."

So I did.

And we'd set the alarm plenty early so that we wouldn't be rushed, so the timing actually worked out okay. She got into the shower thirty minutes before we needed to leave.

"I think we got a little off topic earlier," I said as I stood at the bathroom sink and ran a razor over my face. "If you don't want to go back for _you_…"

"I do," she interrupted. "And I am nervous about it, but I like the idea of going back. You know, I never would've left in the first place…"

"I know. Just be honest with me, okay? If you don't like it, tell me and we'll work something out. Hell, it might be me who doesn't like it. If you recall, I did always have trouble getting along with the brass."

"Yeah, well now Ross is the brass."

"Chief Ross. I never would've imagined," I commented.

But I liked the idea. The man had come a long way in recent months, and he would be a vast improvement on the men who had previously held that office.

I washed the remaining shaving cream from my face and got ready to climb into the shower with Carolyn when the phone rang.

"Leave the water running," I told her. "I'll go grab that."

I hustled into the bedroom and checked the clock as I grabbed the phone. We were still doing good.

"Logan," I answered.

"I trust that you are on your way out the door as we speak," Ross said.

I glanced down at myself and bit back a chuckle.

"Almost, Chief."

"Good. Don't go to 1PP."

"We got a case already?"

"A floater turned up on Governors Island."

"Any ID?"

"No, but I know what you're going to ask. It may or may not be a Major Case, but the 5th is slammed and you guys need to get your feet wet."

"Literally. A ferry ride in April?"

"Welcome back, Detective. I made arrangements for the water taxi to take you two over there. I said you'd be at Pier 101 in thirty minutes. Do I need to call them back, or can you make it?"

I looked up to see Carolyn coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.

Of course, I was still standing there completely naked and had yet to shower.

But it was a case.

I'd thought they'd start us off slow, but we hadn't even reported in yet and we already had a murder.

"We'll make it."

And we did.

Although we might not have if I hadn't still had that siren in my car. But it was legal for me to use it again so why not?

The water taxi took us over to the island where we were met by a National Parks employee.

I quickly pulled out my shiny new badge that I'd been given on Friday when Carolyn and I had gone into HR to take care of the paperwork.

"Detective Logan, Major Case," I announced, and I tried not to sound overly proud of myself, and yet I couldn't help it.

I'd left the department in a whirlwind of disenchantment and frustration and disgust. I'd been more than a little burnt out and that case with the priest had opened up unhealed wounds.

But deep down, I've always been a cop at heart, and as much as I enjoyed working on our own, I'd missed that title.

And as cheesy as it may sound, I loved the concept of _protect and serve_.

"What he said," Carolyn added, tipping her head toward me as she showed her badge, too.

"Huh?" the ranger asked.

"Detective Logan," she said slowly. "Major Case."

It was almost an argument for having her use her maiden name, but at the same time, it was entertaining to watch the confusion. And hell, if the Gorens were doing it, so would we.

"Uh…yeah. Okay," the ranger said, shaking his head. "You guys want to see the body or what?"

"No, I just thought we'd hang out on the island for the day. You know, go check out the landfill," I said as I tucked my badge away. As the ranger continued to stare at me, I added, "Yeah, let's go see the body."

So we got into his waiting golf cart and took off down island.

It was cold, what with the wind blowing off of the water and the dampness in the air. I had to remind myself not to put my arm around Carolyn to help keep her warm.

"So are you that one who found the body?" she asked the ranger.

"No. That would be Ranger Wagstaff."

"We're going to need to talk to him," I said. "Is he still at the site?"

"Last I saw, he was puking his guts out."

"Not near the body, I hope," Carolyn remarked.

"Nah, he made it at least twenty yards before he lost it."

"Has anyone touched the body?" I asked him.

"Are you kidding me? Did you hear me just say that Wagstaff hurled?" he asked incredulously. "No one else wanted to go near that thing."

"It's that bad? I thought maybe your guy just has a weak stomach."

"No. It's that bad."

I wondered idly if my stomach was still made of cast iron like it used to be.

Probably.

And Carolyn, too. She never cringed away from anything.

"So, from what I managed to gather from Wagstaff," the ranger began as he parked the golf cart along the edge of a path that led down to the beach. "Is that he was walking the path, just doing a routine check of the perimeter, when he saw the body down on the beach. Only he said that he thought it was a shark or something."

We got out of the cart and followed the ranger down toward the beach and then he stopped suddenly.

"See it? Right over there," he said, pointing in the direction of a shapeless lump on the sand about fifty yards away.

"Okay, well, let's go."

"Go ahead," he said. "I'm close enough."

I looked at him for another minute and glanced at Carolyn. She just shrugged and then led the way down to the body.

"You'd think they see stuff like this from time to time," she muttered. "I mean, maybe not humans, but things in bad shape after being in the water."

"You remember that one we had?" I asked her. "The hooker who fell out of the wheel well of the plane?"

"Yeah," she said with a grin. "Art and Duane. Now that…that was some gruesome stuff."

"Yes it was. And you got all up in Duane's face, questioning his manhood…"

"Well, he was one sick son of a bitch."

"Uh huh," I agreed, my focus now shifting to the body that was only a few feet away. I looked down when I felt Carolyn tapping my arm and I saw that she was offering me a pair of latex gloves. "Good thinking."

I slipped on the gloves and knelt down next to the body.

"I think I maybe see why Wagstaff lost his breakfast," I said as she knelt down next to me. "Barek…"

I barely registered that I'd called her by the wrong name, but it didn't really matter. We'd been walking down memory lane all morning, and now it just felt too much like old times for me to worry about that having slipped out.

"Yeah, this is…wow. Extensive."

The cause of death was hard to determine just from looking at the corpse, but then again, so was identity. In fact, if he hadn't been naked, I might not have been able to determine gender.

But it was a he.

And his face was mostly gone, as were his fingers.

"He doesn't look like he was in the water all that long," she remarked. "The rest of the body is mostly undamaged."

"So we don't know who he is, we don't know how he got here, and we don't know what killed him," I said as I stood back up. "Welcome back to Major Case."

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

**Lupo POV**

* * *

"Don't forget that Ben will be here tonight."

Connie had just come back into the apartment from walking Otto and I was on my way out.

It was almost seven forty-five, and I'd hoped to be at 1PP by eight, but it didn't look like I was going to make it.

Even so, I paused for a minute, snaking my arm around her waist and pulling her up close to me.

Of course, Otto started barking.

At _me_.

"Traitor," I muttered at him before I leaned in to kiss my fiancé.

I took my time with her, getting into the moment since I knew that we would be short on alone time for awhile after this.

Because of Benecio.

Ben.

Her brother.

He was flying in from Miami today, ostensibly to check me out and decide whether or not I was worthy of his sister.

I wasn't.

I could've told him that and saved him the trip.

But for some reason, Connie was still planning to go through with the wedding, so I was going to have to meet her admittedly over-protective sibling.

Which meant that I might have to keep my displays of affection in check for the next few days because he was going to be sleeping on our couch.

And I had a feeling that he'd be watching me like a hawk because I knew that he wasn't thrilled about the fact that I was sullying his sister's reputation by living with her before marriage.

I'd heard her on the phone with him last week when she finally told him about the engagement.

Prior to that, she'd mentioned me to him, but she hadn't said that we were living together.

I knew as soon as she switched to Spanish that she was pretty ticked.

And yeah, I know Spanish, so it wasn't like she was doing it to keep me from listening.

It was more like her fallback when she's frustrated or annoyed.

So yes, I knew that Ben was coming because I'd been more than a little worried about it.

"I'll try to get off at a decent hour," I promised.

"Really? Or are you going to pretend that something's come up because you're afraid to meet him?"

"Um…how big is he again?" I joked.

She kissed me firmly and then slipped from my embrace.

"He's bigger than you," she said with a grin. "But he doesn't pack a .45, so I'm pretty sure that you can take him. I'll call you later, okay?"

She called out the last part as she was heading for the bedroom to get changed for work.

"Hey," I said in protest.

She looked back at me and I held my hands out at my sides in a questioning gesture.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"That's all I get?"

She crossed the room to me again, and this time slid her fingers into my hair and kissed me with a little more enthusiasm.

"I love you," she said pointedly when she finally pulled away. "Now get your ass to work before Ross calls here looking for you."

I swatted her on the butt as she walked away from me again, but I couldn't stop the smile.

I don't know how this became my life, but it was pretty damn good.

And if I had to put up with her brother for a few days, then that was fine.

I could do it. I'd just have to confine my ravaging of her to the bedroom.

I made it to 1PP by eight-fifteen.

Bernard was already at his desk and he looked up at me, shaking his head.

"I have got to buy you a new alarm clock," he remarked.

"Do we have something?"

"Nah, I'm just finishing up the paperwork on that Johnston thing," he admitted. He picked up a few sheets of paper and tossed them over to my desk. "But there's plenty to go around."

"Gee, thanks."

I sat down at my desk and worked diligently on the forms. I hated paperwork, but I also felt bad about being late and sticking Bernard with it, so I made up for lost time as best as I could.

"You guys come up with a date yet?" he asked after we'd worked in silence for twenty minutes or so.

"September, I think. I'm not sure. I guess I have to pass the Benecio test first."

"Benecio?"

"Connie's brother. He's flying in from Miami today to check me out."

"Oh," he said, leaning back in his chair with a wide grin on his face. "I'll make sure we don't get held up then."

"Don't go to any trouble," I replied. Then it occurred to me how quiet it was in the squad room. "Hey, where is everyone?"

"By everyone, you mean the Gorens and the Logans?"

"Yeah, I figured they'd be here by now."

"They both got call-outs," he told me.

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "On their first day back?"

"Uh huh. I don't know about you, Lupes, but I'm feeling like we went from gold to bronze in a hurry."

He laughed when he said it and I knew there was no heat behind his statement, although it was probably true.

Ross had worked with the Gorens for a hell of a lot longer than he'd worked with us, so they would probably be his new go-to team.

And he'd never actually worked with Carolyn in Major Case, but he had been Logan's boss for a few years, so that would probably put them second in the running.

I'd bet money that that had been the call-out order, too.

First the Gorens.

Then the Logans.

Whatever came next would go to me and Bernard.

And to be honest, I was perfectly fine with that.

It was going to be nice to have some skilled and trustworthy detectives with whom to share the work load.

"Did they get anything good?" I asked him.

"The Gorens got a murder up in Hell's Kitchen," he said. And then he smiled. "The Logans got a floater on Governors Island."

"Ouch," I said on a chuckle. "Governors Island? In April?"

"Could be worse. It could've been January."

"Still…I think maybe we're silver, not bronze."

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

I'd watched Kevin's face as his colleague was loaded into the coroner's van and I couldn't help but think that something was off.

I mean, he was pale.

He looked shaken.

He seemed upset.

And all of those things were perfectly normal.

But there was something else I just couldn't quite put my finger on.

"So, Kevin, you drove up here from Ladder 6, right?"

"What, you think I took the subway in the middle of the night? No. I drove," he answered, dragging his eyes from the scene in front of us back to make contact with mine.

"Where did you park?"

"Over there," he said, pointing down the street. I looked in that direction and saw his old Escort parked about a block and a half away.

"Why did you park over there?"

"Why…what?" he repeated.

"I'm wondering why you parked over there," I stated.

Alex was looking at me, but then she nodded slowly and moved her gaze to Kevin.

"You suspected that Dominick would be in the alley buying drugs," she remarked. "So why, at four o'clock in the morning, did you park a block and a half away?"

"I didn't know he'd be in this alley specifically," he amended. "Just this general vicinity."

"So the alley wasn't where he met his dealer," I clarified.

"Yeah. I mean no. Sometimes. Sometimes it would be on the next block over."

"Was it ever at the dealer's apartment? Did he take house calls?"

"No."

"Never, or not that you know of?" Alex asked him.

"Not that I know of."

"Who is this dealer?"

"Look, guys, I know you have to ask questions and all that, but I can promise you that this doesn't have any thing to do with drugs. What you need to be asking is who was the guy in the red car."

"When you're a detective you can ask whatever questions you want," Alex retorted. "But right now, that's up to us."

"When I'm a detective? What the hell kind of bullshit is that, Alex? You think just because you followed in Dad's footsteps that makes you any better than me?"

And as he said it, he squared up to her and moved closer, to which Alex had responded by stepping into him and raising up to her full five feet two inches.

I settled my hand on Kevin's shoulder and subtly eased him back.

"This isn't about sibling rivalry," I reminded him firmly. "And I believe that Detective Goren's point was that we're the ones asking the questions about whatever we deem pertinent, so…"

"And Detective Goren can handle herself," Alex interrupted, nudging me out of the way. "So answer the damn question, Kevin. Who is the dealer?"

I knew that she was getting frustrated with him, so I tried to keep my cool. I knew first-hand how difficult it could be to deal with it when family members suddenly became part of a case.

"I don't know the dealer," he insisted.

And that was when it hit me.

That something that I'd been missing.

Because as he said the words, he shifted his eyes to the ground and then to the left, and then he used one hand to subconsciously wipe at his nose.

"Are you sure?" I asked carefully.

"Am I sure I don't know the guy? Yeah."

"But you know it's a guy."

"What? No. I mean, it's just an assumption. How many women drug dealers do you know?"

"Plenty," I answered. "So how about you let us look in your car?"

"No," he said immediately.

"What?" Alex asked simultaneously.

And she was asking me, not Kevin.

"Kevin, you have no firm alibi for the time of death. You're the person who found the victim. And the ME's guess is that the victim was killed somewhere else and then brought here in a car. So I'm asking if we can please take a look in your car. It would be a lot better to let us do it now than to make us get a warrant."

"Bobby…" Alex began, and that irritation flashed across her face again.

She quit arguing with me, but I could hear her all the same.

_This is my brother._

"It'll help us clear you," I stated firmly. "And then we can go after the real killer. I mean, that's not you, right? You didn't kill him."

"Of course not!" he denied quickly.

But I was still looking at Alex, and I saw that now there was more than just irritation on her face.

Now there was flat out anger.

But she held my gaze and took a deep breath and then put her back to me and looked at Kevin.

"He's right. Give us the damn keys and let us search your car."

"Alex…no," Kevin said again, this time almost pleadingly.

Now I was starting to get a little worried.

I didn't think that he had anything to hide.

Not about the murder, I mean.

I certainly didn't suspect that he'd had anything to do with that.

But I did think that he was hiding something else. And if we were going to get to the bottom of things then we had to know everything.

He couldn't just pick and choose which facts he shared.

Alex was stunned speechless by his adamant refusal, so I stepped up beside her and put my hand on Kevin's shoulder again.

"Whatever we find…if it's not related to this case, then it doesn't matter, okay? And we'll do our best to keep it between us," I promised. "Believe me, I know what it's like to have your life under a microscope, and I wouldn't do that to you."

"Bobby, what…" Alex began, and then she trailed off again as Kevin held my gaze and sucked in a deep, shaky breath.

"We want to help you," I told him. "But you have to let us. Alex says that you do everything by the book, right?"

He nodded and ran his hand over his face.

"Okay then," I continued. "This is by the book. Don't make us waste time looking at you. Let's get it over with now so we can find the real killer."

He continued to stare at me for a minute longer, and then he nodded again and reached in his pocket. He pulled out his car keys and gave them to me.

"So we have your permission to search your car?" I asked officially.

"Yeah. Um…Alex…"

"What is it?"

"Before you two go look…there's something I need to tell you."

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

**Liz POV**

* * *

Running into Bobby and Alex at the crime scene had been a pleasant surprise.

And it wasn't that I didn't know they were due back today because Lord knew that Danny had talked about little else for the past couple of weeks.

It was only a surprise because I hadn't expected them to get assigned a case before they were actually scheduled to start.

I was curious as to the why, but asking them at the crime scene was probably inappropriate, so I tabled my questions until later.

So I did my precursory exam and then loaded the victim into the van and headed back to the morgue.

I had another one that had to come first, but it wouldn't take me long.

I was curious to get started on this one.

The stab wounds had looked unique and I was anxious to see if I could give Bobby and Alex a distinctive murder weapon to be on the lookout for.

So I threw myself into my work.

Which, in all honesty, I'd been doing a lot of lately.

I'd somewhat regressed into the Liz from six months ago.

The funny thing was that I knew it. I knew that I was becoming more withdrawn and more focused on my work, and yet I continued to do it.

I was on a path that led to no good and yet I couldn't seem to stop myself.

Or I didn't want to.

I wasn't sure of the answer.

But I'd stopped going to Dr. Olivet.

And I'd started letting Danny do all of the talking.

And in the mean time, I was completely losing sight of myself.

Except at work.

Because here, I knew I was damn good at my job.

Even though I still had a twinge in my hand if I held an instrument for too long, and even though I'd taken to locking the autopsy suite doors after regular working hours…aside from those things, I was a good medical examiner.

I'd wager to say that I was a great one.

And that was probably a good thing, because deep down, I knew that it would be all that I could say about myself if I kept up the way that I was going.

Because I was working more and more and socializing less and less.

And why?

Because that asshole Matt Harker had sent a guy to kill me.

_No, to rape me and kill me. _

Just to get back at Danny.

I'd done the party line. I'd admitted that I blamed Danny and then I'd listened as the shrink reminded me that it wasn't his fault.

I knew it wasn't his fault.

But did it matter?

Or would the next crazy guy come after me, too?

"Are you finished, Doc? I can put Mr. Clement back and bring you Mr. Eckhart if you'd like."

It was my assistant, but I still jumped at the sound of his voice.

I realized that I'd been staring at the closed y-incision on my first autopsy of the day for a ridiculous amount of time.

"Thanks, Andrew," I replied. "That would be great."

Exactly how long had I been standing here?

I looked up at the clock and saw that it was nearly eight.

Shit. If I didn't pull my head out of my ass pretty soon then I wouldn't even be able to say that I was an average medical examiner. I would just be a wash-out. I'd be someone that the detectives talked about in hushed voices.

_She used to be really good until she killed that guy. She was never the same after that…_

I quickly went into my office while Andrew moved the body and once I was behind the closed door, I pulled off my gloves and put my hands over my face.

_Get a grip, Liz_.

I was losing it. I was really losing it.

I struggled to hold back tears that had come from nowhere and I was shocked and appalled with myself for the sudden show of emotion.

_It's been a month. _

_More than a month. _

_Get over it._

I choked back a sob and took a few deep breaths in order to calm myself.

What had triggered this today?

Was it the stabbing victim?

_Pebo had been carrying a Gerber Mark II with a double-sided serrated blade that was six inches long…_

How many times had I repeated that stat in my head?

Too many.

And what was the big deal?

I'd been carrying an eleven blade scalpel made of tempered steel.

_And who'd won that knife fight, huh Pebo_?

My cell phone rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Another sure sign that I was not fine, but again, I stuffed it down and answered the phone.

"I wanted to give you a heads-up for a call to Governors Island."

It was Danny.

My husband.

And he'd immediately jumped into business.

What kind of a marriage was that?

_A good one_, I reminded myself. We knew how to mix business with pleasure.

And it was a work day so we were working.

I shook off my unfounded irritation.

"Okay. I haven't heard it on the dispatch yet, but I'll make the arrangements to get out there. Have you sent some detectives over there yet?"

"Mike and Carolyn. They're catching a water taxi from Brooklyn now, but they'll wait for you on-scene. Take a couple of CSU guys with you because there's no one local."

"I know that," I barked. Then I took a breath. "I'll handle it."

"Okay, thanks," he said softly. "Do you think you'll have time for lunch today?"

"I don't know. I just picked up the one in Hell's Kitchen and now you're sending me out to Governors Island. I have no idea whether or not eating is on my schedule today."

"Liz."

"What?"

"I'll wait for you," he said calmly. "Call me whenever you're ready."

So I hung up with him feeling worse than I did before and I instructed my assistant to hold off on getting the Eckhart autopsy prepped.

"I've got to make another run," I told him. "I should be back in a couple of hours."

I didn't realize until I got to the pier that I'd left my coat in my office, so I stood there in the biting wind and waited for the water taxi.

I had two crime scene techs with me, but they were chattering away as if this was an exciting assignment.

I tuned them out and instead focused on my relentless shivering.

I could be…anywhere else right now.

Somewhere warm.

With no dead bodies.

And no knife-wielding felons.

No dirty cops out for revenge on my husband.

_In fact, no husband at all._

That last unbidden thought scared me a little.

Is that what I really wanted?

Was I _that_ upset with Danny?

I wasn't sure any more.

We made the short trip to the island and we were met by a park ranger in a golf cart.

"Please tell me that none of you are named Logan," he said and while I took it as a joke, he almost looked serious.

"Are you having trouble with Detective Logan?" I asked as I got into the front seat. The two techs climbed into the back and the ranger headed down the narrow road.

"Which one? They're both named Logan. That's just strange."

"Why? They're married."

"Oh," he said, looking at me in confusion. "Oh, I didn't think of that. Well I guess that makes more sense then."

I stared hard at him and I suddenly wanted to laugh out loud.

My emotions were everywhere today.

_Today_…ha.

More like every day for the past several weeks.

It was a miracle that Danny hadn't divorced _me_ yet.

I'd started out good enough, but then I'd gone down hill rapidly and the more I tried to hide it, the faster I rolled.

Now I was lodged somewhere between rock bottom and hell.

"Hey, Doc," Mike greeted warmly when the golf cart pulled to a stop along the edge of the path.

I got out of the cart and he almost looked like he was going to give me a hug, but then he stopped himself and just smiled instead.

And he was so genuine that I instantly felt better.

I have no idea why the sight of him made me feel more relaxed and I wanted to ponder that phenomenon further, but it would have to wait.

"Good to see you, Detective," I said, returning his smile. "Where's your better half?"

"She's still down with the body," he replied. "Come on. I hope you had a light breakfast."

"Is it that bad?"

"It's not good, but I'm sure you've seen worse," he answered, and he put his hand on my elbow as we went down the rocky terrain. Then he called back over his shoulder to the techs. "I didn't see any evidence that would suggest the body was brought here by land. I'm not sure what all you guys can get, but take a lot of pictures, okay? And search the edge of the water for any sign of clothing or personal effects."

We continued on down the path ahead of the others.

"You okay, Liz?" he asked me quietly.

"Sure," I deflected habitually. "Danny threw you right to the wolves, huh? A floater on your first day."

"This isn't your typical floater. And I don't think the water killed him."

"What do you think it is?"

"I'll leave that to the expert," he replied with a wink. Then he pulled off his jacket and handed it to me. "Put this on. It's too cold for you to be out here without a coat."

For some reason, I didn't argue with him. I put it on as we approached the body.

Carolyn had been crouching down next to the victim, but upon our arrival, she got up and smiled at me.

"I was hoping it would be you," she said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I replied.

"Good. Okay, here's what we've got so far. All ten fingers are missing. That has to be too much to be coincidental, don't you think?"

I slipped on my gloves and together we squatted down next to the body. As I looked closer at the man's hands, I could see that she was right.

"Observant as always, Detective. Those cuts are too even to have occurred naturally."

I picked up the hand and looked closer.

"In fact, I almost want to say that it looks like an axe. Or maybe a chisel. A fat-bladed instrument. When I get him on the table, I'll be better able to quantify it."

"I'm sure you'll get us down to the exact make and model," Mike added. "What do you think about the COD?"

"Well, his face is a mess," I said as I put down his hand. I poked at the area experimentally and then leaned in close to smell it. I instantly reminded myself of Bobby and I bit back a chuckle. "Go ahead, Carolyn. I know you have a guess."

"I don't know about COD, but I think his face handiwork is courtesy of some kind of acid."

"I'd have to agree," I said with a nod. "What do you think of this here?"

I tilted the victim's head back to get a closer look at his neck.

"It looks swollen," Mike remarked. "But is that from being in the water?"

"It's disproportionately swollen to the rest of his body. If you want a cause of death that's not written in stone, I'll say that he has a broken hyoid bone."

"So someone snapped his neck, then doused his face in acid and cut off his fingers and then threw him into the Hudson?"

"Hey, I don't offer explanations of why. That's your job."

"Okay," Carolyn said with a nod. "So let's get him back to your lair and let you do your magic. In the mean time, we'll take a look at current charts and see if we can get a feel for where this guy might have gone in the river."

The three of us headed back to the path after I instructed the techs to wrap up the body and bring it up to the cart. The ranger had hitched a small trailer to the golf cart, so that was how we'd transport him back to the waiting water taxi.

"I can tell you one thing," I added. "He hasn't been in there long."

"Not long as in a few days? A week?" Carolyn asked.

"I'm thinking less than a day."

"So someone in Manhattan tossed him in and he already washed up here? Boy, that's some bad luck for our killer, huh?" Mike commented.

"No, I'd say the bad luck was him waiting until you two came back to Major Case," I replied.

"Always the charmer, Doc. If I weren't married…"

"If you weren't married to Carolyn, then you'd be sitting around pining for her," I said on a laugh. "So don't even try."

"And if you weren't married to the Chief…" he teased, letting his words trail off.

If I weren't married to Danny?

Would I be mooning over him instead?

Would I be feeling like something in my life was missing?

Or would life just go on?

I realized that Mike was looking at me funny at my prolonged silence, but I just shrugged, and gave him a weak smile.

"Then I wouldn't be married to the Chief."

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6

**Alex POV**

* * *

I knew that there was something off about Kevin, but I blamed it on the fact that he'd found his friend dead.

And I'll admit it.

I was a little peeved at Bobby for pushing as hard as he did.

I mean, I understood it.

And of course I'd backed him up.

But this was my brother.

He would never, ever be involved in anything even remotely shady.

So I'd thought that Bobby was out of his mind when he asked Kevin if we could search his car.

For what?

What did he think we'd find?

A bloody knife?

But then Kevin had said no, even after Bobby had explained to him why.

And I suddenly felt like I had a lead weight in my stomach.

I couldn't move and I couldn't speak.

Bobby stepped up beside me and I watched him as he settled a comforting hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"Whatever we find…if it's not related to this case, then it doesn't matter, okay? And we'll do our best to keep it between us," he told him. "Believe me, I know what it's like to have your life under a microscope, and I wouldn't do that to you."

"Bobby, what…" I began, but then I stopped.

I'd been planning to ask him what he thought he'd find, but then I decided that I didn't want to know.

Besides, it would be nothing.

Kevin was just exercising his right to privacy.

I mean, this was the guy who had started citing sources on his school work in the third grade because he said that he didn't want to plagiarize.

"We want to help you," Bobby was saying. "But you have to let us. Alex says that you do everything by the book, right?"

Kevin nodded, but I noticed that he wouldn't look at me anymore.

Just Bobby.

"Okay then," Bobby said calmly. "This is by the book. Don't make us waste time looking at you. Let's get it over with now so we can find the real killer."

Kevin finally pulled out his keys.

And gave them to Bobby.

Any other day of the year, I would've probably been overjoyed at the fact that Kevin was treating Bobby like a brother, and yet today the most glaring fact was that he couldn't look at me.

_Kevin, what did you do?_

"So we have your permission to search your car?" Bobby stated.

"Yeah. Um…Alex…"

"What is it?"

"Before you two go look…there's something I need to tell you."

And he finally looked at me, but the worry on his face nearly broke my heart.

"Should I advise you of your rights first?" I asked carefully.

"It's…I just…okay, just go look," he said in defeat. Then he sat down on the curb. "I'll wait right here."

I was torn between comforting him and doing my job, but the detective in me won out.

Or maybe it was just because I was so curious as to what he could possibly be trying to hide.

I followed Bobby down the block.

"You didn't have to treat him like…like…such a…"

"Suspect?" he finished for me. "Isn't that what he is? You said it yourself. He is until we clear him. That's how it works."

"Yeah, but…"

I stopped talking and exhaled loudly.

I couldn't take this out on Bobby. It wasn't his fault that Kevin had gotten himself into trouble.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. And maybe it didn't sound all that genuine, but it was the best I could muster at the moment.

"Hey," he said, putting his hand on my arm. By this point we were standing in front of Kevin's car. "I care about him, too. I think maybe you forget that. He's not just your brother."

His emotion and vehemence sent another stabbing pain through my heart.

I wanted so badly just to start this morning over again. To go back to when I was in our bed with Bobby's hands running over me…

But I couldn't, so the least I could do was quit being so insensitive.

"I know," I said, this time with more sincerity. He still looked dubious, so I said it again. "I _know_. And I really am sorry. This just has me thrown."

"Me, too," he said pointedly, making me feel even worse about my actions. "But we're in this together. So let's see what his secret is and then we'll figure out how to help him, okay?"

"Okay," I answered.

So we checked out the car.

And even though deep down I'd already guessed, it still was crushing to find the coke in the ashtray.

"Bobby…" I began as I held up the bag, and then my voice cracked.

Bobby took the bag from me and nodded solemnly.

"It's personal use weight," he stated. "We can reasonably deal him out on this in exchange for cooperation."

"We're going to turn him in?"

"We aren't?"

"Bobby, Kevin does not do drugs."

Denial was a funny thing. It was staring me in the face and yet I still couldn't comprehend it.

"I think he does," he argued, holding up the baggie. "And I don't think we'll be doing him any favors by sweeping it under the rug. And if it does end up having something to do with Dominick's murder…"

"I know," I conceded at last.

Kevin was doing cocaine.

My solid, stable brother who had a wife and four kids.

We continued our search of the car just to make sure that the drugs were the only secret that he'd been trying to keep.

We found a bag of equipment, standard firefighter type stuff.

A change of clothes.

Three hundred and fifty dollars.

And a gun.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

We didn't have any choice but to take Kevin in.

I know that I'd told him whatever we found would be between us, but this was too serious.

Drugs and a gun.

And he'd found the victim who also happened to do drugs.

So we had to take him in for questioning.

I hated to be the one to say it, but Alex wouldn't do it, so I'd had to.

And I knew that she was directing her anger toward me.

I also knew that she didn't truly blame me but I was merely a good target.

And that was fine. I'd continue to be her punching bag.

For now.

But pretty soon she was going to have to put that anger where it belonged.

And that was at Kevin.

I'm not saying that she should disown the guy or never forgive him for his mistakes.

But she _did_ need to own up to the fact that he _had_ made mistakes.

And he was currently still making them because despite his assertion to the contrary, he still wasn't telling us the whole truth.

Which was why he was presently sitting in an interrogation room waiting for us to come and talk to him.

I was starting to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, us being on this case. Surely there was a conflict of interest.

"Let's just clear him and then there won't be," Alex said sharply when I suggested handing off the case to Lupo and Bernard.

And yeah, they were his friends, but at least they weren't family.

"Fine," I replied shortly. "Let's go."

So together we went into the interrogation room, but I was feeling as though we weren't really _together_.

And I didn't like it one bit.

"Kevin, I need to go ahead and read you your rights," I began.

"Am I under arrest?"

"No," Alex said.

"But there will be charges pending for the drug possession," I added. "And the possession of an unlicensed weapon."

"Where did you get that anyway?" Alex asked him.

"Let me do this first," I interrupted her.

She stared hard at me for a minute and then shook her head and held out her hand indicating that I should continue.

So I did. I read him his rights.

"Now," she said after I'd finished. "Where did you get the gun?"

"I don't see how that's relevant."

"Wait, are you waiving your right to counsel?" I asked him.

"You think I need a lawyer?"

"Do you?" I questioned.

"No, I…I didn't _do_ anything."

"Then you probably don't need a lawyer. But don't take my word for it. If you want one, we'll let you make the call."

"I don't need a damn lawyer," he retorted.

And it struck me that he sounded just like Alex.

That thought softened me even more and I knew how hard this had to be for her, but I also didn't want her closing her eyes to the truth.

That would only hurt her more in the long run.

Because how many times had I done that exact same thing with Frank?

And no, I didn't think that Kevin was anywhere near Frank as far as hopeless addiction went but still…he had four kids and yet he'd had a loaded gun in his car. He'd obviously lost some of his sense of good judgment.

"Okay, so let's start with the basics," I said. "You left work at eleven-thirty."

"Right."

"To go where?"

"I wanted to find Dom."

"Because he didn't show up for work," Alex supplied.

"That's what I said."

"Was it just that? Or was it because he was supposed to be bringing you more coke?" I asked him. "Because it looks like you were down to about a gram."

"I don't do it that often," he answered, keeping his eyes on the table.

"How much?" I asked.

"Bobby…"

I stopped and looked at her, surprised that she was going to interrupt this line of questioning.

She looked at me for a moment and so I took her by the elbow and walked her to the corner of the room.

"We have to know exactly what he was doing, Alex," I whispered. "You know that. Why are you fighting me at every turn?"

"Because," she fired back, although she kept her voice low, too. "Because…"

And then her voice cracked again, for the second time this morning.

She stared at me in a way that made me wish desperately that I could make it all go away for her.

Instead of continuing our conversation within earshot of Kevin, she tipped her head toward the door and the two of us went out into the hall.

We still kept our voices low, even though no one was within sight.

She leaned against the wall and I put my arm on the wall over her head, leaning close to her but still not touching.

"I don't know if I can do this," she admitted.

"Of course you can."

"How can you be so sure of me when I'm not even sure of myself?"

"Because I know you," I assured her.

And it was all I could do not to touch her, not to pull her into my arms and promise her that everything would be okay.

But I held back. I would do that later.

Because right now she just needed my support as her partner and she needed to get her feet back underneath her.

"You're stronger than this. You did it when it was me," I reminded her. "When I was the suspect, you worked your ass off…to _clear_ me. That's all we have to do now."

"But that was different," she argued.

"How?"

"Because with you, I knew you were innocent."

Her simple statement sent a rush of emotion through me and for a moment it took me back to that time.

That was the beginning for us.

After Frank…after that case…my life had changed and it was all because of her.

At the time, my confidence had faltered, but she'd been there to pick me up.

Now it was my turn.

"Kevin didn't kill anyone," I said with certainty. "We both know that. But we have to walk him through this because even though he didn't kill Dominick, he knows something else that he's not telling us. And I don't want to see him get into trouble any more than you do, but he called _us_. He asked _for us_. He had to know that it would come to this. Maybe on some level, he wanted to get caught. He wants our help, Alex. Let's give it to him."

TBC...


	7. Chapter 7

**Logan POV**

* * *

We rode back on the water taxi to Brooklyn so that we could get our car.

On the ride over, I did my best to pretend like I wasn't cold, but it was damn near impossible. It was April and yet it still felt like the dead of winter.

What had Liz been thinking, coming out here without a coat? It wasn't like her to be so forgetful.

It also wasn't like her to be so flippant about her marriage.

"_Then I wouldn't be married to the Chief_," she'd said calmly.

As if it didn't matter.

Almost like she was talking about choosing something else for dinner, or pulling a different sweater from the drawer.

I'd glanced at Carolyn to see if maybe it was just me, but I found her looking at Liz with concern.

It wasn't just me.

Liz talked about the victim for the duration of the trip to Brooklyn and it seemed like she was trying to keep up the conversation so that neither Carolyn nor I would ask the obvious question.

"So, I'll get to him as soon as I take a look at the guy from Hell's Kitchen," she said as the taxi pulled up at the pier. "I'll call you. It'll probably be a few hours though."

"Come on, Liz," Carolyn said. "You can ride with us and we'll drop you at the morgue."

"That's okay. I'd better stay with the body."

I knew that the techs could handle it. She knew that the techs could handle it.

And worse yet, she knew that I knew.

So she was deliberately avoiding being alone with us.

"Sure thing, Doc," I said, temporarily letting her off the hook. "We'll catch up with you later."

And we would. I wasn't just going to call about the autopsy.

We'd make a visit to the morgue.

Carolyn and I got into our car and drove to 1PP. By this time it was after ten o'clock and the squad room was bustling with activity.

"I see you two finally decided to grace us with your presence," Bernard commented as we crossed the room to the two empty desks that had been deemed ours.

They were situated within earshot of where Bobby and Alex would be sitting, as well as next to Lupo and Bernard.

Ross had done a little rearranging in anticipation of our return.

"Anytime you want to learn a thing or two about detective work, you're more than welcome to tag along," I replied with a grin.

"With the Gorens?" he asked.

"Now see, that was just uncalled for," I said, shaking my head. Then I glanced around the room. "Where are Batman and Robin, anyway?"

"Interrogation," Lupo said, nodding his head toward the hall.

"They have a suspect already?" Carolyn asked, although something about the look on Lupo's face had me suspicious.

"It's Kevin," he answered quietly.

"Kevin Eames?" I asked in surprise.

"Uh huh. I don't know what's going on," he continued. "I just saw the three of them come in about half an hour ago."

"And all three of them looked pretty pissed off," Bernard added.

"I bet so," Carolyn muttered. "Should we offer to help?"

I continued to stare down the hall for another minute, but then I shook my head and sat down at my desk.

"No. Let's work on this current chart and if they need us, they'll ask."

So we got started with our attempt to determine where our John Doe had gone into the river.

"This is a waste of time," I grumbled. "He could've gone in off Battery Park and caught a strong current that pulled him over to the island. Or he could've been dumped from the Upper West Side and been dragged into the estuary flow."

"I'm betting it was a short float," Carolyn commented. "Liz said that hardly any damage was due to the water."

"I wonder if she can tell how long he'd been on the beach," I mused. "I didn't ask her that. Did you?"

"No. But that might help, huh?"

"I don't know. I'm grasping here. I'm not sure where else to start. I'm just hoping like hell she gets something off that body that will point us in the right direction."

"Maybe we should go keep her company while she works," Carolyn suggested.

"Not a bad idea. And then if she feels like talking about anything else while we're there…"

"Uh huh."

"Watch out for paper cuts," I said to Bernard as we headed out of the office. He laughed out loud and then balled up a piece of paper and threw it at me.

"Kids, don't make me separate you," Lupo said.

"Hey," I replied to Lupo, stopping at the corner before heading for the elevator. "If they need help…"

I didn't need to spell it out for him.

I was worried about what kind of mess Bobby and Alex were having to deal with and to be honest, I'd really grown to like Kevin quite a bit, too, so I was curious as to what he'd gotten in to.

But Carolyn and I had a case to work, just like they did. We couldn't exactly sit around and wait for them to have a fireside chat.

"We're all over it," he assured me.

"What do you think that's all about?" Carolyn asked me as we got onto the elevator.

"I have no idea. Hopefully we'll all have time for our first day debriefing and then we'll find out."

The four of us had planned on meeting for dinner after work tonight, but of course none of us had suspected that we would all pick up murder cases today. It was hard to say if any of us would actually have time for something as mundane as dinner.

"And what's going on with Liz?"

"Another good question," I agreed. "Let's go ask her."

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

Bobby's pep talk helped tremendously. I was slightly ashamed of myself for my collapse of confidence, but he was right. We could get through this.

We went back into the interrogation room and both of us sat down across from Kevin.

"It's time to be done playing games," I told him firmly. "Walk us through your whole night. Step by step, and don't leave anything out. If you come clean with me on everything, and I mean everything, then we'll do the best we can to make sure that you don't get into too much trouble for the stuff we found in your car."

"And you won't tell the family?"

"No," I promised.

"But you should," Bobby added. "This is your wake-up call, Kevin. Use it."

He nodded at us and then sat back in his chair.

He looked exhausted and stressed. Literally on his last leg.

_Or maybe he's just crashing because it had been too long since his last bump…_

"I went to find Dom because he owed me some shit," he said. And once he started talking, it came out in a rush. "I was pissed that he hadn't come to work because I was down to my last gram and I wasn't sure if that would be enough to get me through the shift. Aside from that, I'd already paid him for it, and I had a feeling that he was holed up somewhere doing my blow."

I wanted to interrupt him.

I wanted to ask him when in the hell had he'd started doing this mess and what was he getting out of it and what had happened to my big brother…but I didn't.

I kept my mouth shut and focused on his words and on the feel of Bobby's leg pressed against mine.

I knew that he was doing it to provide me with subtle support and I appreciated it more than I ever thought I would. I needed it to get me through this.

"And did you find him?" Bobby asked since Kevin had paused in his statement.

_Say no. Say no._

"No."

_Thank God._

"I found his dealer," he continued. "He was dead."

"What?" I nearly shouted. "The dealer? Where is he?"

"Let me finish," Kevin entreated. "Please. Just let me get through this."

"Okay," I said, nodding encouragingly. "Go ahead."

"The dealer was dead in the alley. I saw him, and I couldn't believe it. I figured that maybe Dom had killed him, and I…I totally freaked out. I went back to Dom's place to see if he was there. I wanted an explanation from him. And I was going to call you guys right then, but I wanted to know the truth first so that you could help him. He's not a violent guy, and if he killed Johnson…"

"Hang on," Bobby interrupted. "So the dealer's name is Johnson?"

"No, that's just what we called him. You know, Johnson and Johnson. The drug company?"

"Yeah. Sorry," he said. "Keep going. You went to Dom's place…"

"Yeah, and he wasn't there. So I went back to work. And I know that I should've reported the murder, but I just…I wanted to talk to Dom first. But then he still never showed and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I'd screwed up and that I had to call the police. So I left at three-thirty and I did one more drive-by of Dom's place, but he still wasn't there. So then I went back to the alley. Only Johnson wasn't there anymore. It was Dom."

"Wait, so you don't know what happened to the dealer's body?" I asked him.

"I have no idea."

"Are you sure that he was dead?" Bobby asked.

"I'm positive," he said firmly. "I checked. I was going to do CPR on him because at first I thought that he wasn't dead. I thought maybe he'd just OD'd or something, but he was dead. Like, _dead _dead."

And for the first time in the past several hours, I started looking at this case like a detective again rather than as a person of interest's sister.

I sat back in my chair and looked at Bobby. He met my gaze, having anticipated my confusion at this turn of events.

I stared at him for several moments as we each tried to make sense of things in our minds and then I finally broke away from his gaze and looked back at Kevin.

"So you found a body. You left it. And then you went back, only this time there was a different dead body in the same location."

"That's right. So see? That's how I know that it doesn't have anything to do with the drugs. Because even if Dom killed Johnson, which I don't think he did, but even if he did, then who killed Dom?"

**

* * *

**

Lupo POV

The Logans had breezed in and out while the Gorens were still in interrogation with Kevin.

It was killing me to stay seated at my desk, but I wasn't going to stick my nose in where it didn't belong.

Not yet anyway.

I'd been diligently filling out forms for nearly two and a half hours when my phone rang.

"Detective Lupo, there's a Mr. John Eames down here in the lobby. He says he's here to visit you. Can I send him up?"

"Yeah, he's good. Send him up."

I hung up and looked at Bernard.

"Johnny's here," I told him.

"As in, Alex's dad?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod, and then I added pointedly, "And Kevin's dad."

Was he here because Kevin had called him?

Or was he here for some other reason?

I decided that maybe I did need to stick my nose in just a little.

"We need to run interference," I said firmly.

"Are you sure? What if that's why he's here?"

"Then why did he tell the desk sergeant to call me? Besides, if he's here because of that, then I'm sure he'll tell us. Otherwise, we need to get him out of here."

"I'm with you," he agreed.

A minute later, Johnny came into the squad room. He looked slowly around the room before settling his gaze on me.

He quickly walked towards me and yet he continued to look around somewhat nervously.

"Where's Alex?" he asked immediately.

"Um…I'm not sure," I lied. "Are you looking for her?"

"No, I'm looking for you," he said and he seemed to relax a little when I said that I didn't know where his daughter was. "What about Bobby?"

"I would imagine he's no more than five feet away from Alex," Bernard said. "Wherever that is."

"Mike? Carolyn?"

"Morgue."

"Okay, good. Look, are you guys busy?"

I looked down at the unending mound of paperwork on my desk and then caught Bernard's eye.

"Not at all," I answered. "What can we do for you?"

"I think that I might have messed up," he admitted. "At the office."

"How so?"

"It's kind of complicated. I know it's early for lunch, but…I don't want to be here when Alex gets back. Can I take you boys to lunch?"

I glanced at the clock. It was only ten-thirty, but I was all for getting him out of the squad room before Alex and Bobby dragged Kevin down the hall in handcuffs.

Not that I thought they would do that, but still…

"I can always eat," I told him. "Let's go."

Twenty minutes later, the three of us were seated in a diner down the street.

"So what's going on?" I asked him.

And I don't know what I was expecting, but I did know that I was thinking it would be something much less than monumental.

He'd sent a bill to the wrong client.

He'd locked himself out of the office.

He'd accidentally erased the hard drive.

Something that might seem like a crisis to him but that was ultimately not that big of a deal. I figured that we could let him vent and we'd offer up a quick and assuring solution and then we'd send him on his way.

And maybe by then, we'd pick up a case.

So I wasn't overly concerned as the waitress filled our coffee cups.

Johnny sat quietly across from us looking, for all intents and purposes, like a man about to eat his last meal.

The waitress walked away and I picked up my cup to take a sip of coffee, and his first statement caused me to nearly choke.

"I think I may have killed someone."

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

**Liz POV**

* * *

I knew that Mike and Carolyn had seen through my carefully constructed façade, so it was no great surprise when they showed up in my morgue.

And yeah, maybe I hadn't been trying all that hard to fool them.

What good would it do anyway?

They were a couple of bloodhounds.

All of them were, for that matter.

How was I supposed to keep secrets from my friends when they were all such good detectives?

_Maybe you're not supposed to keep secrets from your friends_, I reminded myself.

"Are you two lost?" I asked them when they came through the doors. "Because you know that there's no way I'm working on the John Doe yet. I'm still working on Mr. Eckhart here."

Although I was close.

I was actually done with the exam itself but I was still attempting to narrow down the murder weapon.

Carolyn stepped up beside me and took a closer look at the body.

"Hatchet?" she asked as she leaned in to inspect the wounds.

I had the cadaver in a prone position and I had various tools and instruments spread out on a nearby table so that I could see if something matched up.

"Close," I agreed. "But not quite. A little smaller, I think."

Mike wandered to the table and began picking up the tools.

"Where do you get this stuff, Doc?"

"I have a private stash. It helps to be able to determine the murder weapon. But then some crazy guy will use something different, and…well, I have to add to my supply."

I hadn't put an eleven blade in with my hoard of weaponry.

Maybe I should.

That way I'd recognize it when some burnt out medical examiner stabbed a guy in the neck with a scalpel.

"Liz?"

"Yeah?"

Carolyn was looking at me funny and I wondered if maybe I'd missed a question.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Are you two so bored that you just want to hang out in the morgue all day?"

"Well, you know, our boss is a relentless ass so we like to hide out in here whenever we can," Mike joked.

"And really, we don't have anything to go on with our vic, so yeah. We're going to hang out in here," Carolyn added. "Unless you want us to go."

I stared at her for a moment longer and then I looked back at the body.

"Bring me that pry axe, Mike."

"This thing?" he asked, holding up the tool in question.

"Yeah."

He walked over to me and handed me the axe. The main blade was too broad, but on the backside there was a claw-like protrusion that might fit the bill.

I held it up next to one of the wounds.

"What do you think?" I asked Carolyn.

"I think you found it."

"And see here?" I pointed out. "This blow happened while he was still on his feet. The victim went down to the ground with the claw still partially in his back. The additional wounds occurred after he was already down. You can tell that the angle of entry is slightly different."

"So what is this? Where did you get it?" Mike asked me.

"It's a firefighter's tool. They use it to break through doors," I told him. Then I glanced back at the damage that had been done to the victim. "Or skin, as the case may be."

"Firefighters use them, huh?" Carolyn asked sternly, catching Mike's eye.

"Yeah, well I heard this guy was a fireman, so it's not too surprising. He was probably killed with his own tool."

"Let's hope so," Mike said.

They were saying more than I was understanding, but that was usually the case, so I didn't let it bother me.

"Let me give Alex a call and let her know," I told them. "And then I can get started on your guy."

I instructed Andrew to prep the John Doe and then I called Alex, but she didn't answer so I just left her a message.

When I came back out of my office, the floater was on the table.

"We didn't ask you how long you think that he'd been washed up," Mike said.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to determine that," I admitted. "The total amount of time, from death to submersion to finding dry land was all most likely within a twenty-four hour span. The cold temperature of the water versus the coldness of the air…it'll be a guess."

"But it'll be a Rodgers guess," Mike said. I laughed at his confidence and shook my head at him.

"Still…"

"You don't mind if we watch, do you?" Carolyn asked as clearly her manners won out over her curiosity.

"I never mind an audience, Detective. Well, almost never," I joked.

"It bothers you if people watch you cook?" Mike asked innocently. I continued to chuckle at him as I began my preliminary exam.

"I'm fine with cooking. We can't all be exhibitionists."

"Oh come on. You can't tell me that you and the boss man haven't tested out the new office."

And I didn't mind the teasing nature of the conversation.

Hell, I'd started it.

But the truth was that I'd been avoiding Danny for a couple of weeks now.

In the bedroom, anyway.

And it wasn't fair of me.

I could tell myself that until I was blue in the face but it didn't change how I felt.

And at the moment, I felt very…unattractive.

And unattract_ed_.

Because of that whole blame thing.

Of course I recognized that this was what I'd done to Marcus. I'd shut him out and we'd ended in divorce.

But like I said, knowing and being able to change it were two completely different things.

Right now, I was just a spectator as my life crumbled before my eyes.

**

* * *

**

Carolyn POV

Liz was more of a mess than I'd ever seen her.

And I didn't know it to be a fact, but I'd bet money that she'd quit going to Olivet.

She was spiraling.

I'd seen it before.

Hell, I'd _done_ it before.

I knew the signs and at the moment, hers were neon and flashing.

So when she went quiet at Mike's joke about properly breaking in the chief's office, I caught his eye across the table.

_Give us a minute._

"Um…no, we…no," Liz mumbled in response to the question.

The old Liz would've matched Mike wit for wit.

She would've said something that would have ended up embarrassing him and that was no easy feat but Liz was a pro.

She was definitely in need of a chat.

"Hey, I need to check in with Lupo on a…a…thing," Mike said as he headed for the door. "I'll be right back."

"That was less than subtle," Liz remarked after he left the room. "I'm guessing you sent him a message telepathically that said you wanted to talk to me alone."

"I'm hoping that you'll talk to me," I countered.

"I'm kind of working here," she said in annoyance. "I don't mind if you want to watch, but…"

"No playing psychiatrist?" I filled in.

"Right."

I stood still for a minute as Liz gathered a grainy substance from the victim's hair and then moved down the body, checking for abnormalities.

"Dr. Rodgers?"

"Yes, Andrew," she responded and I watched as the college-age assistant came into the room.

"I did the tox report on your John Doe like you requested," he stated, and I noticed that he looked at her with open adoration.

"And?"

"He was a regular drug store cowboy," he replied with a smile. "All prescription as opposed to street drugs but in large quantities. And no way would one guy have all that stuff legally."

"Oxy?" I asked him. He glanced at me quickly but then focused on Liz again.

"Some oxycodone," he confirmed. "Demerol, fentanyl…"

"All of that?"

"And then some. Percocet, and trace amounts of Vicodin."

"A guy who can't make up his mind, huh?" Liz responded.

"Looks like it," Andrew agreed. "Should I run the full report? I mean, maybe I missed something, or…"

"Yes, go ahead and run it. I'm guessing that we didn't get any hits off the dental x-rays?"

"Nothing," Andrew confirmed.

"Okay," Liz said with a nod. "Thanks. Do we have the full report on Dominick Eckhart yet?"

"It should be back any minute."

"Okay, good. Let me know the results and be sure to run a hard copy to give to the detectives. I'm sure they'll want to come by and pick that up along with the autopsy report."

"Yes, ma'am."

I waited until Andrew left the room and then I couldn't help but smile.

"You have an admirer," I stated.

"Who, Andrew?" she asked. "He's just…eager to learn."

"I'm not teasing. I think it's nice. Everyone likes knowing that they're attractive to the opposite sex. Someone other than their spouse."

"I'm sure that's not it," she said dismissively.

And there it was again.

The old Liz would've had a quick joke about Mrs. Robinson, but instead she refocused on the body.

"He's got some bruising," she said quietly. "Barely formed. Most likely peri-mortem."

"Consistent with a struggle?"

"That would be my guess."

"Was he approached from the front? Or behind?"

"Um…point of contact seems to be from the front. The marks on his upper arm and chest area would be consistent with the attacker…shoving him, and then…grabbing him and turning him around into a choke hold."

She'd faltered at my question in a very un-Liz-like fashion.

Which told me that she was still reliving her attack. She'd hesitated when we were discussing weapons. And now the thought of being attacked head on…

"When was the last time you went to see Olivet?" I asked, catching her completely off guard.

"Olivet?" she repeated, obviously buying time. "I…um…a couple of weeks ago. Why?"

"A couple of weeks ago? So you only did a few sessions. Did she end your treatment?"

"I don't see how that's any…"

"Liz, you're struggling," I interrupted. "I want to help. You've been avoiding my calls. Alex told me yesterday that she hadn't seen you in more than two weeks. There are only two reasons why a person would do that."

"Two reasons?"

"You're sleeping with our husbands, so you want to avoid confrontation."

She barked out a laugh and took a step back from the table.

"I think you're safe on that one. I haven't been sleeping with anyone's husband."

"Not even your own."

"That's personal, Carolyn," she chastised.

But I didn't feel bad about it.

This was the same woman who had badgered Connie into coming off of sexual details about Lupo that would surely make the poor man blush if he ever knew.

This was the woman who joked with Alex about accepting her offer of trying out Bobby in the sack.

Liz had no problem talking about her sex life.

"And I'm your friend," I continued. "So do you want to know the other reason why you might be avoiding us?"

"Why?"

"Because you don't want anyone to see that you're falling apart."

She held my gaze and we both ignored the fact that we were looking across a mutilated body.

She seemed angry at first, but I knew that was just a defense mechanism so I didn't back down.

"I am _not_ falling apart," she said at last, and I was slightly disappointed that she was going to continue with her denial.

"So everything is perfectly fine."

"Yes."

"You're not having flashbacks."

"To what? Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened? Liz…" I began, and then I stopped. Maybe she was right to begin with. Maybe this wasn't the place. "Okay, you know what? I'll back off. For now. But as soon as you and I get a free night, we're going to get together and talk about this."

And then I thought about Alex.

Lupo said that she'd brought Kevin in for questioning.

Not only did I think that she might could use a sounding board, too, but I also thought that I'd have more success at getting Liz to open up if I had Alex to tag-team with.

"Me and you and Alex, okay?"

"You make it sound like a threat," she said, but she looked resigned as she said the words, and I'd come too far to back down.

"It's a promise."

TBC...


	9. Chapter 9

**Lupo POV**

* * *

"You think you killed someone?" Bernard repeated.

And I was glad that he'd been able to speak because I was still in shock.

This was Alex's dad.

He'd deliberately sought me out to help him out of a murder charge?

Surely I was missing something.

"It shouldn't be a mystery," Bernard continued. "Is this person dead?"

"Yes," Johnny answered.

"Who is it?" Bernard asked.

"Richard Sundberg. He was a client."

"Okay," I said, finally finding my voice. "Start from the beginning."

"I've been working on this case for the last couple of weeks," he said. "Alex thought it would be an easy one for me to get my feet wet. The guy thought that his wife was cheating on him, so all I had to do was follow her."

"Wait, where's your partner?" Bernard asked. "Weren't you supposed to be working with someone?"

"Yeah, but he's still in Florida. He'll be back in a couple of weeks."

"Okay," he said. "Sorry. Go ahead. So you were following this woman because her husband suspected her of cheating."

"Right."

"And was she?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "And I got pictures and everything."

"So then what? You took the pictures to Mr. Sundberg?"

"Not exactly."

I glanced at Bernard to get a feel for his read on the situation. He looked perplexed. And that didn't happen often with him.

"Keep going," I encouraged.

"I got to the office this morning at six-thirty and she was waiting for me."

"Who? The cheating wife?"

"Uh huh. Allison Sundberg."

"So she'd busted you spying on her," Bernard said.

"No," he replied quickly. "I know how not to get made. I mean, yeah she knew about me, but not because I'd been spotted. She must have found an entry in the checkbook, or something. I don't know."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she didn't know _me_. She approached me and said that she wanted to speak to the investigator who had been hired by her husband."

"Bad idea," Bernard mumbled.

"Yeah, I know that _now_," Johnny retorted. "Are you guys gonna help me, or are you going to tell me how much I screwed up? Because I don't need you two to do that."

"We'll help," I assured him, although I was anxious to hear the rest of what happened. "Finish the story."

"Okay, so I took her into the office with me and I explained to her that I was the investigator, but that since I'd been hired by her husband, I wasn't at liberty to give her any information."

He stopped and took a sip of his coffee and then set down the cup and ran his hand over his face.

"It was stupid. I know that it was stupid, but I just never thought…I never imagined…"

"Johnny, you're killing me here. Tell us what happened," I insisted.

"I told her, okay? She gave me this whole sob story about how her husband never paid any attention to her and that she was in love with this other guy and she planned to leave her husband but that if he got evidence of an affair then she wouldn't get anything in the divorce settlement because that had been part of their prenuptial agreement. And at some point during the conversation, she asked me if I'd gotten evidence to give to her husband."

"And you said yes?"

"I said yes. I didn't show it to her or anything, but…"

"So then what?" Bernard asked.

"She left. I did some work around the office and then I went to see Mr. Sundberg to show him the pictures that I'd taken of his wife."

"And he was dead?"

"He was dead. So see, I know that she must have killed him and it's my fault because if I hadn't told her anything about the pictures then she wouldn't have felt the desperation to do something like that, and…"

"What did you do after you found him?" I asked because it occurred to me that any cop worth his salt would have Johnny sitting in the station house providing a full-blown statement.

And yet here he was, sitting in the diner with us.

I had a sinking feeling that I knew the answer to my question.

"You didn't call anyone, did you?"

"No."

"Johnny, you're a retired cop!" I reminded him, fighting to keep my voice down. "Do you know how much worse it looks for you to have gone to the scene and then left without reporting it? Because you have to know there'll be evidence. And it's not like you aren't in the system."

"Hey, I came to you. I _am_ reporting it. I need you to find out what happened to him. I mean, maybe it wasn't the wife who killed him. She didn't seem like the type. She seemed…I don't know. Nice."

"How much is he worth?" Bernard asked suddenly.

"Sundberg? A few million."

"Okay, so you tell his wife that he's about to get evidence that will allow him to divorce her without paying a penny and hours later, he shows up dead. And you think that someone else did it?"

"I _hope_ someone else did it," he said sadly. "Because otherwise, it's my fault. And then I'll get charged as an accessory…the business will be ruined by bad press…"

"Johnny," I began, shaking my head.

This was bad, but not as life-shattering as he thought.

Although it was definitely not the kind of thing that we should be trying to keep a secret.

That would only make it look worse.

As it stood, I couldn't imagine that anyone would charge him as an accessory simply for showing the wife the pictures.

We just needed to go to the precinct with jurisdiction and tell them his story.

"Lupo, Bernard…please. Can you look into the murder and find out what happened? I need to keep the investigative firm out of it, if at all possible."

"Where did it happen?" Bernard asked him, and I knew that he was thinking the same thing as me. We could take Johnny ourselves and make sure that he wasn't railroaded.

"I can't take it to the local precinct. It's in the 2-7," he stated.

The 2-7. Where Sean now worked as a homicide detective.

"You're really going to try to keep your part in this thing a secret?" I asked him. "Johnny, Alex isn't going to blame you. I mean, sure it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but still…you had no way of knowing that she was going to kill the guy."

"She trusted me to keep their business running and this is what happens on my first day alone? No, I can't tell her."

I looked at Bernard and raised my eyebrow at him in question. He shrugged his response.

And of course, I had no intention of keeping Alex in the dark if things started getting hairy. But for now, I didn't see any harm in going to the scene and checking things out.

"Okay. Let me call Ross and see what we can do."

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

We let Kevin go home after he went back through his statement for a third time.

By this point, it was after eleven and he'd been up for more than twenty-four hours.

"Don't leave town," Alex told him wearily.

"Where would I go?" he replied with a tired smile.

"I'm serious. We'll have to go through this again, I'm sure, but for now, go home and get some rest. And tell Kendra."

"Tell her what?"

"Everything," Alex insisted. "You need to tell her everything. Today."

"Because if I don't, you will?"

"No, because it's the right thing to do," she countered as she pulled him into a hug. "And you know that."

"I hear you," he agreed.

"And no more coke."

"Alex…"

"What are you going to do, Kev? Go back to the alley and see if you can find another dealer? Johnson's dead, and so is Dom. And we have your stash. Now is the perfect time to lay it down."

"She's right," I added quietly, and then I hugged him, too.

I felt bad for him.

His dirty laundry had been dumped on our front lawn. Admittedly by his own choosing, but still…it had to land somewhere so I guess he'd figured that ours was the safest place.

"And if you need some help with that, you call me, okay?" I offered.

"Thanks," he said with a nod. We walked him out of the interrogation room and through the squad room to the elevator. "I'll call you later."

"Oh, we'll be in touch," Alex told him.

After he left, we decided to go to the morgue since Liz had left a message on Alex's phone.

We drove in silence until I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Are we alright?" I asked her.

"What? Yes," she replied. I'd obviously pulled her from her thoughts. "Aren't we?"

"I'm just checking," I said, reaching over to settle my hand on her leg.

It was that tangible connection that always seemed to make things better.

It was like when we got in the bed at night.

Even if we were angry, just the one person sneaking that foot across to make contact with the other…that made all the difference.

Not that we went to bed angry very often, but it happened from time to time.

And when it did, that contact was like offering up an olive branch and it always seemed to make things a little better.

The connection worked now, too.

Because as off as I'd felt with her at times during the interrogation, I once again felt on solid ground.

"Do you think he'll tell her?" she asked me as she removed one hand from the wheel and put it on top of mine.

Would Kevin come clean with his wife? That was a very good question. I didn't know Kendra very well so it was hard for me to guess how she might react to the news. And Kevin's head was a mess, so it was about fifty-fifty as far as I could tell.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "I hope so."

"What do you think happened? Why would someone remove the one body only to leave another?"

Yet another question to which I had no answer.

"Let's just take it one step at a time."

We got to the morgue and passed Mike and Carolyn in the hallway.

"How's the first day?" Mike asked us carefully, which told me that he'd already heard about Kevin.

"It started at four-something this morning with a call out to a murder victim found by my brother. How do you think?" Alex replied, and while her words might have sounded harsh, her accompanying smirk took the bite out of them.

Mike nodded in understanding.

"We got to do a round trip to Governors Island on a water taxi and while we were out there, we got to check out a floater whose face was obliterated by acid and his fingers were all chopped off."

"Huh," Alex replied thoughtfully. "I think we still win."

"I didn't have my coat for the second half of the morning," Mike added wryly. "Does that make a difference?"

"What happened to your coat?" I asked him.

"He gave it to Liz," Carolyn said. "She didn't wear one."

"She went out to the island without a coat?"

"Uh huh," she confirmed with a nod.

"Yeah, guys, she's not good," Mike added.

"Not good how?" Alex asked. "She seemed okay this morning."

"She quit seeing Olivet," Carolyn told us. "And I think she and Ross are having trouble. But she's not really in an opening-up kind of mood."

"Well, we need to get her in one," Alex replied.

"That's what I said," Carolyn agreed. "See what you guys think when you talk to her."

"Okay," I said with a nod. "Give us a call later and we'll see how we look for dinner."

"Good luck with your floater," Alex added.

"Yeah," Mike said with a roll of his eyes. "So hey, what's this thing with Kevin? Lupo said you had to bring him in."

"We'll tell you about it tonight," Alex told him.

"But Kevin's okay?"

Alex glanced at me as though maybe she wasn't sure of the answer.

"He will be," I said. "He's not anywhere we haven't all been from time to time."

"Where's that? Between a rock and a hard place?"

"Exactly."

We left the Logans and went into the autopsy suite. Liz had a body on the table and it didn't take a genius to see that it was Mike and Carolyn's victim.

"You didn't have to make the trip," Liz said when she saw us. "I could've faxed you the reports."

"And missed the opportunity to see you again?" I asked with a smile. "Never."

She let my flirtatious remark sail right past her.

"Your victim was on cocaine," she said as she pulled off her gloves and headed for a side table. She grabbed a report from the surface and looked it over as she continued talking. "Quite a bit, actually. It should've made him fight harder with your killer, but it doesn't look like he did. I don't see any evidence of bruising or defensive wounds."

"So he was taken by surprise," Alex stated. "The killer got him from behind without warning."

"That's my thinking, yes. The initial blow would've taken him down to the ground, and the killer was angry enough to follow that up with several more strikes, even though the first one would've done the trick."

"Did you determine the murder weapon?" I asked her.

"I'm thinking this," she said as she lifted a pry axe from the counter. "It's standard for…"

"Firemen," Alex interrupted, looking worriedly at me.

"Right, but since your vic _is _a fireman...I don't know, I'm not a detective, but you might want to see if his is missing."

"Doc, I brought you some…oh, I didn't know you had company."

It was her assistant Andrew who had come into the room carrying what looked to be like lunch for two.

"Thanks, Andrew," Liz replied. "Just take it into my office. I'm almost done here."

My mind was running in two different directions at the moment.

I mean, I was trying to focus on the case and what the new evidence meant for us, but I was having trouble moving past the mystery of Liz herself.

First of all, she was keeping her distance from us and she wasn't making eye contact.

She was afraid that we were going to confront her.

Carolyn had probably stirred up her defensiveness and now she thought we were coming in for the follow-up.

She'd surely clam up if I pushed her now, so I had to let that go for the moment.

But then there was Andrew, too.

He'd brought her lunch?

And of course I didn't consider for a second that there was something going on there, but since when didn't she meet Ross for lunch? Over the past few months, it was my understanding that they got together in the middle of the day on a fairly regular basis.

"Here are your copies," Liz said as she stepped cautiously closer to me. "I've got everything documented. The lab is still working on the trace evidence from the body, so if they turn something up, I'll be sure to call you."

And now she was dismissing us?

"Thanks, Liz," Alex told her. "Hey, is everything…"

"I'm fine," she replied quickly, cutting off Alex's question. "I really wish that everyone would quit asking me."

"Okay. Um…tomorrow night after work," Alex told her. "Drinks at Steve-O's, okay? Just you and me and Carolyn."

"If I can swing it," Liz said noncommittally.

"Swing it," Alex said firmly. She held her gaze until Liz gave her a confirming nod, and then the two of us left the morgue.

"We need to go check out Dominick's apartment," I commented to Alex as we got back into the car.

"You think he was killed with his own pry axe?"

"I don't know. But I think it's a three hundred dollar tool that isn't common to anyone but firefighters. If he wasn't killed with his own, then we might need to start interviewing the rest of the firemen in New York."

TBC...


	10. Chapter 10

**Johnny Eames POV**

* * *

I sat quietly at the table while Lupo made the call to Ross.

"Can you get us jurisdiction?" he asked. "Yeah, he knows that. Uh huh. I will. Okay, thanks, Chief."

He hung up and looked at me sternly.

"You should've called it in immediately," he stated.

"I know."

"And you should've stayed at the scene."

"I _know_," I said again.

I tried to keep from sounding irritated.

Because I deserved every bit of tongue-lashing that he felt like giving.

I was putting him and Ross in an awkward position.

But I'd had to ask.

Because I was kicking myself in the ass for doing something so stupid as to admit to the Sundberg woman that I'd followed her.

Why had I told her that?

Because she'd portrayed her husband as an inattentive ass who was going to try to screw her out of alimony?

Or was it just because she was pretty?

"Chief says we can go out to the scene with you and check it out. But you are not allowed to touch anything," he told me. "Me and Bernard will do the investigating."

"Of course," I agreed quickly.

I was just glad that Ross wasn't going to toss this to the 2-7. The idea of Sean catching this case…not only would it be humiliating for me, but he'd also undoubtedly catch a lot of flack from his new partner.

"Okay, well let's get this show on the road," Bernard said. "Lupo has to be done by five to meet his future brother-in-law."

"Well, you know, if it doesn't work out," Lupo said.

"Connie's brother is coming to town?" I asked, grateful for the temporary shift of focus.

"Yeah, he wants to evaluate the guy who's boffing his sister," Bernard said conspiratorially.

"Hey," Lupo protested, but Bernard started laughing and I shook my head at the two of them.

"We won't keep you from that. If we're not at a good stopping point by five, then me and Bernard will take over," I said. Then I looked at Bernard and flashed him a smile, "Right, Son?"

"Sure thing, Pops."

Thirty minutes later, the three of us went up the front steps of Sundberg's townhouse.

"The door wasn't locked when you got here?" Lupo asked me.

"It wasn't even closed all the way," I said. "That's why I went on in."

"So he was expecting you? When was the last time you spoke to him?"

"I called him at seven-thirty this morning. I told him that I'd be over in a couple of hours."

"Did you tell him what you had?"

"Not specifically, but I said that I had some photos for him."

"How did he sound?"

I thought about that for a minute.

"Short," I replied. "Distracted."

"Was he always like that or just this morning?"

"I'm not really sure. I only spoke with him the one other time. The day that he hired us."

"And you closed the door when you left?" Bernard asked me.

"Yeah."

They nodded at each other and then opened the door.

"NYPD! Mrs. Sundberg?" Lupo called out.

"I'm telling you," I whispered. "She's not going to be here."

"Stay here," Bernard said forcefully.

"But…"

"Okay, you can follow us, but don't touch anything," Lupo added.

I trailed behind them as they headed for the kitchen, which was where I'd found the body.

"It's pretty warm in here," Lupo remarked. "Was it this warm earlier?"

"Yeah. I think so. Maybe."

I couldn't be sure. And it was driving me crazy.

How long had I been a cop? So why was I having trouble with the details?

"Well, he's definitely dead," Bernard commented.

I hadn't been retired too long to pick up on that. Not when there was blood and gray matter splattered onto the floor.

They both gloved up and then bent down near the body.

"He's in full rigor," Lupo said after experimentally touching the man's arm. "What time did you find him?"

"It was two minutes after ten," I answered. "And then I came straight to 1PP."

"It's almost noon now," Bernard said, looking at his watch. "If we say that he's just going into rigor, then that puts time of death around nine."

"And what time did Allison leave your office?"

"Uh…a few minutes before seven."

"And you talked to him at seven-thirty?"

"Right."

Lupo looked across the body at Bernard.

"So she would've had plenty of time to come here and kill him and then get out of here before you showed up."

"I guess so. Although I didn't tell her when I was coming. In fact, I made it sound like I was heading over there right after she left."

"You told her you were getting ready to leave?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "She kept hanging around, like she wanted to get more information from me, and I just wanted to get rid of her, so I told her that I had an appointment with her husband."

"So either this woman has some serious balls and she came home to confront him, even knowing that you were on your way…" Bernard began.

"Or it was someone else entirely," I filled in. "Right?"

But Lupo shook his head.

"We need to get Rodgers out here and pin down this TOD."

"What are you thinking?" I asked him.

"I'm thinking that maybe it's warm in here for a reason."

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

A thorough search of Dominick's apartment proved interesting.

First of all, there was a duffle bag next to the door. His pry axe was in the duffle along with various other work-related items.

It was clean, but not too clean.

Besides, what kind of killer would use it and then wash it and put it back?

His apartment showed no signs of a struggle. He wasn't the best housekeeper in the world, but it wasn't overly messy.

Of course, there were drugs. I'd opened the kitchen cabinet and found that the top plate on the stack of dinner plates contained a mound of coke.

I guess since he lived alone, he didn't work too hard to hide it.

Next to the pile was a razor blade and the plastic casing of an ink pen.

"Looks like he'd hooked up with Johnson recently," I remarked as I held out the plate to show Bobby.

"What would you put that at?" he asked. "An eight ball?"

I gauged the amount of cocaine on the plate and then nodded my agreement.

"That looks about right. Maybe a little more. So if he got his coke, why would he kill his dealer?"

"Very good question," Bobby answered, offering me a wry smile. "Maybe he didn't have the money to pay for it."

He started opening and closing the kitchen drawers while I made a pass through the living room.

"I'd say that he was flush for cash," I commented after opening a box that was on a bookshelf. I pulled out a thick roll of bills.

"So maybe he killed Johnson and took his drugs and money."

"But why? He had a good job," I said, and then I glanced around the room at the modern furniture and obviously new electronics. "Unless he was doing business on the side. Do you think maybe he was starting up a clientele of his own?"

"I don't know. But if he and the dealer had a beef, how did they both end up dead? And why is the dealer missing?"

"And where's the dog?" I asked suddenly. "Kevin said that Dominick gave him a key so he could come and get his dog."

"I think that was code for stash."

"Oh."

Yeah, I probably should've considered that, but I guess deep down I still didn't want to admit that Kevin was into this lifestyle.

What was wrong with my family lately?

Cathy, and now Kevin…

"So let's walk through it," Bobby suggested as he joined me in the living room. "Dominick was due at work at ten o'clock."

"But whenever he left here, he didn't take his bag. He wasn't planning on going to work at that point."

"So you think he left sooner and just never made it back?"

"Maybe."

"What do you think about that stalker story?"

"I think cocaine can make you paranoid," I responded. "If he looked out the window and saw the same red car parked outside, maybe he'd convinced himself that he was being watched. It's not a stretch."

"You know what's really got me stumped is that the dealer's body was moved. Do you think it's possible that Kevin was wrong?"

"You mean you think the guy wasn't dead?"

"Wouldn't that make more sense? I mean, why take that body somewhere else and leave a different body. If it's a good place to leave the victim, what does it hurt to have a second victim already there? Even if Dominick's killer is not the same guy as Johnson's killer…it just…it really doesn't make any sense at all, does it? Why kill Dominick somewhere and then take him to that alley?"

"Because it holds some significance to the killer?" I suggested. "Or to the victim."

"Kevin said that's where some of the deals were done. So that's where Dominick routinely met up with Johnson."

"So they met, and Dominick bought Kevin's drugs and then either killed Johnson or left and someone else killed him. Then Kevin saw Johnson's body, and he left. At what point did Dominick get killed?"

"You know, if it was anyone else, I'd say that Kevin went looking for Dominick and maybe they got into an argument."

"And what? Kevin pulled out his axe and hit him with it repeatedly? Come on, Bobby."

"I know. That's why I'm saying if it were anyone else. But it's not. It's Kevin. And we both know that he didn't kill anyone. Aside from that, there was no blood. Not on him or in his car."

"Okay," I said with a nod. "But let's say that your theory is right."

"Alex, it's not…"

"No work with me here. Because surely Kevin wasn't the only one buying drugs through Dominick. So let's say Dominick bought for someone else, too. And _that_ guy went looking for him, found him, and killed him. Taking him back to the alley might make sense, in a twisted sort of way, and it's a pretty decent spot to leave a body because of the area being so trashy, but even if you assume all of that…why was the other body moved? Wouldn't it make more sense if we'd found a dealer and an addict, both dead in the alley?"

"It would've made a whole lot more sense," he agreed. "And the other question is this. If the dealer really is dead, then where is he? Why hasn't he turned up yet?"

"So maybe Kevin was wrong," I conceded. "If he was strung out and then panicked because he thought the guy was dead…I don't know."

"We need to go back to the alley and look around. Maybe we'll find some people willing to talk to us. What are the odds that Kevin was the only one who saw Johnson in the alley?"

While we'd been talking, I continued to search along the bookshelf and the various hiding places in the living room.

I ended up finding a total of thirty-five hundred dollars in cash, what appeared to be roughly ten more grams of coke divided equally into three bags, and then the most interesting thing of all.

"Bobby," I began slowly as I picked up the piece of equipment.

"What is it?"

I turned around so that he could see what I had in my hand.

It was a digital camera, and it had been sitting on the window ledge.

Bobby joined me in the middle of the room as I powered it on and then switched the mode so that I could scroll through the pictures.

There were seventeen photos currently on the memory stick.

Six were of guys at the firehouse. I recognized a couple of them, including Kevin.

Seven were downright pornographic, shots of him with various women in a vast array of sexual positions.

"I wonder if these women knew he was taking their pictures," I muttered as I moved through them.

And then I had to pause for a moment at one in particular which was a shot of Dominick with not one, not two, but three naked women.

"What guy would need three women at a time?" I asked rhetorically. "Most men can't keep it up long enough to please one woman, much less three."

Bobby chuckled as he continued to look over my shoulder.

"You are asking the wrong man, honey."

"Good answer. So are these all just his sexual exploits, or…oh, hey, look at this."

The last few shots appeared to have been taken through Dominick's window, looking down at the street.

The object of the photos was a red car, parked out front.

And in the very last picture, a man was visible.

It was grainy and impossible to make out his face, but he was leaning against the outside of the car and his head seemed to be turned in the direction of the window.

Like a man had been outside watching.

TBC...


	11. Chapter 11

**Lupo POV**

* * *

Bernard and I spent the afternoon working on the Sundberg murder.

With Johnny, of course, although the biggest challenge with him was to keep him out of the way.

He was still pretty freaked out by the prospect of Alex finding out what he'd done.

I think he was being too hard on himself.

Even though we had yet to find Allison Sundberg, I saw photos of her sitting around the home.

She was a beautiful woman and I had no doubt that she'd used her full arsenal of charm on Johnny to get him to tell more than he normally would.

Fortunately, Ross had been a good sport about getting us assigned to the case. I wasn't sure what he'd told Lieutenant Van Buren about why he wasn't giving it to her squad, but she'd called to tease me.

"It's not enough for you to leave me and go to Major Case, but now you're going to start poaching my murders, too?"

"Sorry, Loo," I said on a laugh. "This one had special circumstances."

"Special, huh? Aren't they all," she stated knowingly.

"Did you call just to give me a hard time about the case?"

"No, I called to give you a hard time about something else. What's this I hear about you and the ADA?"

"That depends on what you heard."

"Uh huh. You two weren't fooling around on my watch, were you?"

"Come on, Loo. There aren't any regulations about detectives and prosecutors…"

"I'll take that as a yes," she said dryly. "Detective Lupo…"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Congratulations," she said sincerely. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you."

"And you'd better treat her right."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I'll expect to see an invitation in my mailbox in the near future."

"Absolutely."

I couldn't help but smile as I hung up with her despite the fact that I was still inside of the eighty-plus degree townhouse with a corpse that was rapidly going through the phases.

It was after four o'clock in the afternoon and we'd been here since before noon.

Well, mostly here.

Bernard and I had canvassed the neighborhood to see if anyone had heard anything or seen anything.

"I saw a man go into the place," one lady told us. "It was around ten."

Great. Our witness was identifying Johnny.

"No one else?" I asked. "Earlier maybe?"

"No."

"Have you seen Mrs. Sundberg today?" Bernard questioned.

"I haven't seen that tramp since one day last week."

And that was the general consensus.

Allison Sundberg was a low-class woman with loose morals and no inhibitions.

In fact, one of the neighbors reported that he'd seen her making out with some other man out in front of the house.

"I thought they were going to just go at it right there on the sidewalk," he confided. "And it wasn't Richard. It was a guy about half her age."

But no one had heard a gunshot, and that was an important detail.

"A silencer was used for a crime of passion?" Bernard asked me as we waited for CSU to finish up.

Liz was still examining the body, but in her defense, she'd only arrived on-scene about an hour ago.

She said that she'd been slammed today.

Johnny wasn't crazy about the fact that I'd called her specifically, but he'd have to get over that.

In fact, he was going to have to get over the idea that Alex wasn't going to hear about this.

"It doesn't fit," I agreed in reference to Bernard's observation. "If Allison came home from talking with Johnny and decided to kill Richard, she just happened to have a gun with a silencer? From the sound of it, she didn't seem like the type proficient in weaponry."

"Depends on what kind of weapon you're talking about, Lupes."

"Gentlemen," Liz began as she stood up. "I'm having trouble determining the exact time of death. And I'd bet that was the idea. The heat in the room has obviously sped up the process, not to mention the amount of time that's passed. We know that at the very latest, he was killed at ten but no earlier than seven-thirty. Well, according to my testing, it was more like three or four in the morning."

"You can't take into account the heat?" Bernard asked her.

"Of course," she replied sharply. "But how long has it been on? How long did it take for the room to reach its current temperature? What was the temperature of the room at the time of death? All of these factors contribute. I can't accurately determine the TOD."

"Yet," I stated.

"Yet," she agreed, and she suddenly looked exhausted. "I'll take him back to the morgue and see what I can do. But I'm not making any promises. If you've got a witness who can put him alive as late as seven-thirty, then maybe you should go with that."

"It was a phone call," Bernard told her. "With someone unfamiliar with his voice, so…"

"Well, you're the detectives," she said in annoyance. "Detect."

She left us in the kitchen without so much as a wave goodbye.

"Is it just me, or…"

"It's not just you," I agreed.

"Hey, Lupes, don't you need to be heading out? I'm sure you want a shower before you go meet the new brother in law, because trust me, you smell pretty ripe right about now."

"Thank you," I said blandly, although I knew he was right. Four hours with a decomposing corpse in a room that had us drenched in sweat…yeah, I needed a shower. And I needed to burn this suit. "It's fine. I'll just call Connie and tell her…"

"No. Go. We've got what we need for tonight. The lab can run through the evidence and Liz can look at the body and then we'll start fresh in the morning. I'm going to make a few more attempts to locate the new widow and then call it quits myself."

"Okay," I agreed. "Do you want the car?"

"Nah, take it. I'll catch a cab."

So I headed for home and despite the fact that I rolled the windows down, I was still pretty sure that now the car smelled like dead body, too.

I loosened my tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons on my shirt as I took the stairs two at a time.

I could hear the radio playing as I unlocked the door.

_Good_, I thought. Connie had gotten home early.

She and I could get in one more round before we went to pick up Ben and I had to start being on my best behavior.

I opened the door and saw her in the kitchen with her back to me. A wave of lust and love hit me at just the sight of her.

She must not have heard me come in because of the music, so I quietly crossed the floor and then I assaulted her from behind, attacking her neck with my lips as I started pulling her blouse from the waistband of her skirt.

And then, because she really likes it when I talk dirty, I said, "I'm thinking we have time for one more good, hard fuck on the kitchen floor before we have to go get your brother."

"Lupo," she said, startled and laughing all at the same time. "Sshh…he's…"

"He's early."

I froze as the realization of who was speaking rolled through me in slow motion.

And then I realized that I'd stopped moving with my hands underneath her blouse, so I slowly extricated myself.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before turning around to meet Ben.

"Lupo, I'm sorry," Connie said quietly. "You didn't get my text?"

"Um…no. So you must be Ben," I said, gathering my pride and holding out my hand to shake his.

"Benecio," he corrected stiffly. "Connie's the only one who calls me Ben."

"My apologies. Benecio."

He shook my hand and looked past me at Connie.

"Este es el muchacho?" he asked her with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Ben…"

"Y que es ese olor?" he continued.

I couldn't decide whether or not to confess to speaking Spanish.

On one hand, I might learn his honest opinion of me, but he'd probably eventually learn the truth, so…

"Dead body," I said in answer to his question about the origin of the smell.

He looked at me in surprise.

"You speak Spanish?"

"He speaks seven different languages," Connie spoke up.

And I felt bad that she had to defend me.

This was what I'd been afraid of.

That he'd come here and he'd open her eyes to the fact that I was nowhere near good enough for her.

"Um…I need to go take a shower. You know, to get rid of the smell," I said ineloquently.

I left the two of them in the kitchen and quickly headed for the bathroom.

Could my timing have been any worse?

He'd caught me making lewd suggestions and trying to undress his sister.

I turned on the water and then began stripping out of my suit, still shaking my head at my own idiocy.

I pulled my cell phone from the clip on my belt and looked at the text messages.

Nothing from Connie.

As I set it down on the counter, it started buzzing so I picked it back up. I nearly laughed out loud at the irony when I saw the message.

_**Ben got an earlier flight so he's at the house with me now. Can't wait for you to meet him.**_

Fat lot of good it did me to get the message now.

Could I sue the cell phone company for not delivering the text message in a timely fashion? I mean really. How hard was it to process those things? Wasn't that what we paid them for each month?

I shoved my clothes into the hamper that we used for things that needed to go to the cleaners, although I thought that maybe we should have a hamper for things needing to be incinerated.

I wondered what Connie and Ben were talking about.

"_Does he always talk to you so disrespectfully?"_ he'd surely ask her.

I'd literally suggested a good hard fuck on the floor.

I knew from hanging out with Sean and Kevin Eames that it was really not cool to even suggest the idea of sex with a woman in front of her brother.

And yet I'd said it like _that_.

And yeah, she liked it when I talked like that. I mean, that was why I did it.

_But just not in front of her brother._

"Lupo."

"Connie, what are you doing in here?" I asked when she startled me out of my self-flagellation.

"I sent Ben out to walk Otto. Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" I repeated. "I'm…yeah. I'm great. And I'm pretty sure that he'll have you packed up and moved out of here by the time I get out of the shower."

"It wasn't that bad," she said, pulling back the curtain to look at me.

And boy did she ever look at me.

She started at my eyes and then her gaze made a slow trip downwards, pausing for a moment at about the halfway point before continuing down to my feet and then back up again.

I felt a stirring just from the heat of her gaze and I had to remind myself that my lust was what had gotten me into this situation in the first place.

I continued scrubbing at my skin with the soap.

"It was bad," I countered. "Oh, and your text came through when I got into the bathroom. Technology's a great thing, huh?"

"Hey," she said as she reached out to touch my shoulder.

"You're going to get wet," I warned her. "And then how will that look?"

"Lupo, I'm a grown woman. I can sleep with my boyfriend if I want to," she said firmly. "In fact, I can let him fuck me on the kitchen floor if I want."

She withdrew her hand and began unbuttoning her blouse.

"Or in the shower," she added as she dropped the garment to the floor and then made short work of her skirt as well.

"You have lost your mind," I told her, although I couldn't stop the smile. She got into the shower with me and took the soap from my hand so that she could finish the job.

"Maybe. But I told him that my sex life wasn't any of his business. I invited him up here to meet you because I love you and you're a part of my life, not so he could dissect our lifestyle."

"I'm sure he had a few things to say about that."

"He's fine," she insisted. "He'll warm up to you. You'll see."

She put the soap down and ran her hands down my chest.

"Connie," I said on a groan as she slid her hand down the length of me. "We can't do this now. He'll be back any minute."

"He'll be back in half an hour," she corrected. "He wanted to give you time to clean up."

She continued to work her hand over me and I relaxed under her ministrations.

"Half hour, huh?" I asked.

"Uh huh," she replied as she brought her lips to mine.

We were out of the shower in fifteen minutes.

There was no way that I was going to risk having him come back while we were still in there together.

And yeah, it wasn't all that hard for me to be quick considering what Connie was doing to me but I'm going to stick with the story that it was prudence that had me biting back a shout after such a short amount of time.

So we were out and dressed and back in the kitchen when Ben returned. Of course, both of us still had wet hair so it didn't take a genius to figure out what had gone on, but he pretended not to notice.

"It'll be about twenty minutes before dinner is ready," Connie said. "Ben, do you want a beer?"

"That would be great," he agreed. "Get yourself one, Lupo. We'll go have ourselves a chat while she finishes up in here."

So I grabbed us two beers from the fridge and led the way into the living room. I tried not to be worried about the impending conversation, but it was nearly impossible not to be.

Connie loved her brother and I knew that his opinion was very important to her.

I didn't want to screw this up.

"So, Connie tells me that you're a cop," he stated after we sat down.

"I hope so, since I came home smelling like a dead body," I joked nervously. He didn't laugh or even smile.

Instead he just stared at me.

"How long have you two been living together? Because you know, I never heard your name until last week."

"Um…it's been almost two months now."

"You know the last guy she lived with beat the crap out of her. Just so you know, cop or not, if you ever lay on hand on her, I'll have to kill you."

I looked at him in shock at his statement.

Because Connie had still never come clean with me about what had happened in her past and yet Ben had just laid it out there for me.

And of course, I'd suspected, but to hear it so bluntly stated…the anger that filled me was instant and intense.

"I would _never_ hurt her," I insisted. "Physically or otherwise."

He continued to hold my gaze and then he slowly started to nod his head.

"I think I almost believe you."

"What happened with the other guy?" I asked him, still not ready to move past that.

"I beat the crap out of _him_," he said. "Connie doesn't know about it. She came down to live with me for awhile, and she didn't admit to what had happened, but I just knew. So I flew up here one weekend and paid him a visit."

"I wouldn't mind paying him a visit myself."

"It was a long time ago. And trust me. He got the message."

"Okay," I said reluctantly. And since he seemed to be opening up a little, I decided to bite the bullet. "And I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't know you were here, and…well, I'm sorry."

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Absolutely."

"She said that you asked her to marry you while you two were at a crime scene."

I barked out a self-conscious laugh and drained the rest of my beer.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to that, or exactly how he meant it, but when I looked at him again, he seemed like he was fighting a smile.

"Yeah, I'd been trying to find the right moment for a week or so and we're just both always so busy…a friend of mine told me that I had to make time instead of wait for it, so…well, I just asked. I figured if she said yes there then she must really mean it."

"Good theory," he agreed. "And I think I like that you didn't keep putting it off. You know, if it's allowed, I'd like to maybe tag along with you tomorrow. Get to know you better. Don't cops do ride-along programs?"

"Well, I'm actually a detective," I clarified. "Ride-alongs are for black and whites."

"Oh."

"But I can probably work something out, Benecio," I added quickly.

And wouldn't that just be a blast?

Me and Bernard, working a murder, and now we'd have Johnny _and_ Ben tagging along.

But if it meant that he would give me and Connie his blessing, then I'd do it.

Hell, for that, I'd do just about anything, because it was important to her.

He flashed me a smile, the first one I'd seen since he'd found me with my hands under Connie's shirt.

"That sounds great," he said. "And Lupo…you can call me Ben."

TBC...


	12. Chapter 12

**Logan POV**

* * *

It was a frustrating first day back.

We still didn't know who our dead guy was.

Alex and Bobby were dealing with yet another family crisis.

And this thing with Liz was…disconcerting, to say the least.

So let's just say that I was more than ready for a few drinks by the time Carolyn and I arrived at Steve-O's.

"I don't see them yet," Carolyn said as she looked over the crowd of people.

It didn't surprise me that they were running late, so we found a table and ordered our drinks.

"So, what do you think?" I asked her after we'd been served.

"About being back?"

"Yeah."

"I'd forgotten how exhausting it can be," she admitted. "But I guess it's really not all that much different from what we were doing before."

"It's a lot different from the last time we worked in Major Case though," I said.

And that was true, because we hadn't seen Ross all day.

In fact, it felt like we didn't have a boss.

I guess the idea was that he'd filled his squad room with self-reliant, competent detectives who didn't need to have someone looking over their shoulders.

We were all self-starters who did our job because that's what we were there to do rather than only doing it because we were told to.

And I liked that.

I liked that he had that kind of confidence in us.

I mean, I figured that we'd report in to him eventually.

Probably tomorrow, actually, just to let him know what was going on, but it was mostly at our discretion.

I only hadn't called him today because I'd kind of been hoping that we could, at the very least, first find out the identity of our victim.

But it was tough when he had no ID and no fingers.

"I like it," she said quietly. "I like having my badge back. I didn't realize how much I missed it."

"Me, too," I agreed. I slid my hand along the side of her neck and leaned in to kiss her. Because despite working with her all day, I hadn't kissed her since this morning, and that was unacceptable.

"Should we come back?"

I pulled away to find that Alex and Bobby had approached the table. They both looked wiped, but Alex had a smirk on her face.

"Uh, yeah, maybe," I joked as I leaned over to kiss my wife again.

"You can do that later," Alex argued as she sat down across from us.

Bobby slid in next to her and then waved the waitress over to our table.

"Double vodka martini," Alex ordered quickly.

Yeah, she'd had _that_ kind of day.

Bobby ordered a beer and then sat back and sighed heavily.

"So…this is supposed to be our we're-so-glad-to-be-back dinner," Carolyn said. "But are you?"

"We are," Alex confirmed. "It's just…we got a good one to start with, that's for sure."

"What happened with Kevin?" I asked her.

"He found a body," she told me.

"Yeah, I know that."

"No, he found a different body," Bobby said. "And he left it. Then he came back and there was another body there. And the first one was gone."

"Wait, in the same spot?" Carolyn asked them.

"Uh huh," Alex said. The waitress came back to deliver the drinks. Alex picked hers up and downed half of it in one gulp. It made my throat burn just watching her. "The first guy was a drug dealer. The second guy worked with Kevin. We don't know what happened to the drug dealer."

"The dealer and your dead guy knew each other?"

"Yeah, it was _his_ dealer."

"Are you sure he was dead?" I asked. "Maybe he got up and walked away."

"That's what I said," Bobby replied. "But Kevin insists that the guy was dead."

"So where is he?" Carolyn questioned.

"We don't even know who he is," Alex said. "All we have is his street name and we can't find anyone who knows his real name or where he lives."

"But the body you do have…it's because of drugs?"

"We thought so, but then we found a camera in his apartment. It looks like maybe someone was stalking him."

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Carolyn commented. "Why would someone hide the dealer's body?"

"We've been asking ourselves that all day," Bobby said with a shake of his head. "What about you guys?"

"Well, you have a missing body. We have a body we can't identify."

And as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized the potential connection.

"You don't think…"

"No way," Alex said. "Our guy was up in Hell's Kitchen."

"It's not impossible," Bobby said. "We know our killer had a car. He could've dumped the dealer anywhere. Why not in the river?"

"After he destroyed his face with acid and cut off his fingers?" Carolyn said dubiously. "Wasn't your victim stabbed?"

"Uh huh," Alex agreed. "Multiple times."

"Ours had a broken neck. No stab wounds," she said.

"It would be a hell of a coincidence," Bobby stated. "What are the odds that your body would turn out to be the guy we're looking for?"

"Well," I began thoughtfully. "Our guy did have his fingers cut off with a broad-bladed instrument. Remember what Liz said? It was probably either an axe or a chisel."

"And our murder weapon is a pry axe," Alex said, and it was obvious that she was now seriously considering the possibilities.

"So, what…your killer murdered the dealer, left him in the alley, then killed your other guy and traded his body for the dealer's and then mutilated the dealer's body so that he wouldn't be recognized and dumped him in the river where he promptly washed ashore on Governors Island…is that what we're saying?" Carolyn asked incredulously.

"Well, when you say it like that," I said on a laugh. "Maybe not."

"We can ask Liz to cross-match the trace evidence," Alex suggested. "If one killer handled both victims then there was likely some transference involved."

"Our guy was washed pretty clean," Carolyn told her. "But it can't hurt to check. We don't have much else to go on."

"Why would someone do that?" Bobby mused. "Why would he go through so much trouble to get rid of the other body? I mean, even if your guy isn't our guy, our guy is still missing. The killer did something with him."

"Maybe he wasn't the important kill," Carolyn suggested.

"Are you saying there's a message?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud."

"She has a point though," I added.

"You know what?" Alex said. "I'm done talking about work. We're here to unwind, right?"

"Yes," Bobby agreed. He put his arm around Alex and pulled her closer to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and then looked at Carolyn.

"I told Liz that we'd meet her here tomorrow night for drinks."

"And she agreed?"

"I didn't give her much choice."

"Her assistant brought her lunch today," Bobby said.

"Andrew? He's got a crush on her," Carolyn told them.

"Uh huh," Alex agreed. "Not only did he bring her lunch, but he waited in her office so that he could eat with her."

"You guys don't think she's stepping out on the chief do you?" I asked.

Because I was having trouble picturing Liz as an adulterer. But then again, after seeing her today, I wasn't sure exactly what she might do. People reacted to traumatic situations in strange ways.

"I think she's just enjoying the attention," Carolyn said.

"I think he's safe," Bobby added. "She still blames Ross. Andrew is someone who doesn't ask anything of her that she can't give."

"That's true," Alex agreed. "We're trying to make her talk about things, and Ross is probably missing the signs because he's looking to her for support because of the new demands on him with work. She seemed better and I think she had all of us faked out."

"Do you think you two can get her to talk?" I asked the women. "I mean, if she doesn't want to I don't know how you're going to get her to open up."

"I'm not sure," Carolyn said. "But she quit going to Olivet. We have to do something."

"We'll start with drinks tomorrow," Alex said resolutely. "If we can't get her to talk then we'll have to pull out the big guns."

"And what would that be?" I asked, smiling a little at her description.

"We'll go to Ross. We'll have a whole damn intervention if we have to. But I can't just sit back and watch her self-destruct."

We fell quiet as the waitress came back to take our dinner order and to bring us fresh drinks.

"So, I didn't hear from my dad all day," Alex said. "Did he check in with you?"

"No," Carolyn told her. "I called the office a couple of times, but he didn't answer. You think he played hooky on his first day alone?"

"I don't know what he's up to," Alex said with a shake of her head. "I was afraid to call him since I'm trying to keep this whole thing with Kevin under wraps."

"Why? He didn't do anything wrong, did he?" I asked.

"He didn't report a body," Bobby said. "And then he went back later, supposedly to report it, and found a different body."

"Still…maybe not the smartest move, but not really a serious crime."

"He doesn't have an alibi," Alex admitted. "We had to clear him as a suspect."

"Did you?"

"Mostly. Sort of. Although, I guess not really."

"Of course, he didn't do it," Bobby added.

"Well, no," I said in surprise. "It never occurred to me that he had. Kevin is way too straight-laced for that. I bet he doesn't even cross the street outside of the crosswalk."

I chuckled at my own joke, but Alex and Bobby stayed serious.

Something more was going on.

"What is it?" Carolyn asked them.

"He's…just maybe not as innocent as he seems," Alex said at last.

She sighed and then looked at Bobby. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm, squeezing her to him in a comforting gesture.

There was definitely more going on.

But I wasn't going to push it.

I didn't need to know their family secrets.

"Not innocent, but not a killer," Bobby clarified. "So we just need to find the real killer so that the other things don't get blown out of proportion."

"Well, if there's anything we can do to help," I offered. "You know where to find us."

"Of course."

The topic of conversation was lighter throughout the rest of the dinner.

We all needed a break from reality for a little bit, so we steered clear of talk about family or cases or even Liz.

And two hours later, when we left the restaurant and headed for home, I was glad to see that Bobby and Alex both seemed a little more relaxed as we parted ways out on the sidewalk.

"Do you really think our guy might be their missing dealer?" I asked Carolyn as we walked home.

"No," she said. "But it's worth a look."

"We can call Liz in the morning and get her to check our guy's DNA against all of the evidence gathered off of their victim."

"Uh huh," she agreed. "And we should probably expand our search of the missing persons' database to see if we can find a physical match."

"Yeah, it's kind of tough when he has no face, huh?"

"We'll have to sift through the height-weight and eye-color matches."

"I guess we'll be the ones with paper cuts tomorrow," I muttered.

"Hey Mike?" she said as I unlocked our door.

"Yeah?"

"That's tomorrow," she stated, walking in the house ahead of me.

"Right."

"And this is tonight," she said as she tossed her jacket on the back of the couch and then began taking off her sweater.

"Yeah…" I replied as a slow grin spread across my face. I had a pretty good feeling that I knew where this conversation was heading.

"Do you know what today is?"

Okay, so maybe I didn't know where it was going. I wracked my brain to make sure I hadn't missed any important dates.

Our anniversary.

Her birthday.

Valentine's Day.

The anniversary of the day that she'd walked into the bar after coming home from Columbia.

Yeah, I even remembered that one.

But none of those were today.

"April 3rd," I said cautiously.

"Uh huh.

"Five years ago today was the first day that I met you."

Her words combined with her tone of voice and the fact that she was now wearing next to nothing all served to flood me with a blend of lust and love that had me quickly stripping out of my clothes.

"You remember that?" I asked her as I stepped towards her.

"I remember exactly what I wanted to do to you," she answered, her voice a low seductive whisper.

Normally, I might have been afraid to ask.

Because the idea that she'd wanted to shoot me briefly ran through my head.

But she wasn't packing at the moment.

And she had both of her hands on my butt.

So I decided to be brave.

"Show me."

TBC...


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: The 3rd chapter today is for Blinky38 - stay dry!**

**Alex POV**

* * *

Dinner had been a nice distraction from reality, but as Bobby and I walked home from the restaurant my mind drifted back towards the case.

"Tomorrow we can see if we can get those photos blown up. Maybe we'll get lucky and find some kind of identifying mark on the vehicle," I said.

The plates weren't visible in the photo, but there might be something else that would help us. I wasn't sure what, but something.

"We should see if we can identify the women in the photos, too," Bobby said. "Maybe they know something."

The date stamp on the earliest picture taken was two weeks ago, so despite the fact that Dominick had been photographed with so many different naked women, all of the pictures were recent.

He definitely got around.

"I'm sure the boys at the lab will love you if you ask to get those blown up," I said with a smirk.

"I'll give them to Erica," he replied. "We still need to get together with her and Lewis, too."

"Is he sleeping with her?" I asked, grateful for yet another distraction.

"You think that guys talk about stuff like that?" he asked as though he was offended by the idea.

"Yes," I said quickly. "Although you'd better not talk about our sex life or you'll be talking about it in the past tense."

"So you don't tell anyone anything?"

"No. Well, not really," I hedged.

"You told Carolyn and Liz about our honeymoon."

"Only very basic information. I mean, it was a honeymoon. They knew what we were doing."

"Uh huh," he said with a grin. "And you offered out my services, if I remember correctly."

"That was a slip of the tongue. And you still didn't answer my question."

"About Lewis and Erica? I don't know," he replied honestly.

A guy who didn't brag about his sex life.

And here I thought Bobby was the only one.

"I might have told the girls that you're amazing in bed, but I certainly didn't give details," I said, switching back to our initial topic because I was enjoying the feeling of foreplay just from talking about it. "I mean, I didn't tell them about your propensity for random locations."

"That's not that strange."

"I'm not complaining. I'm just proving a point."

We entered our building and got onto the elevator.

We were alone, so I quickly stepped in front of him and settled my body against his. I love the feel of him, strong and sturdy, and the smell of him is intoxicating.

I rested my cheek against his chest and breathed in deeply.

"I didn't tell them how insatiable you are."

"Well, you _can_ them that," he joked, and I could feel the chuckle rumbling in his chest.

"Uh uh. I'm not sharing any details," I told him. "Do you know why?"

I leaned my head back so that I could look at him and I found him staring at me with such intense desire that I was suddenly extremely aroused.

I'd already had my arms around him, but now I slid my hands down over his butt, squeezing the firm muscle and pulling him closer against me.

"Why?"

"Because if I told anyone about you, they'd never be satisfied with their own husbands again. They'd all be lusting after you."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

The elevator door opened, breaking our brief spell. We got out and went down the hall to our apartment, but I kept my arm around his waist, my fingers holding onto his belt loop.

"I'm sorry this day was so hard for you," he said quietly as he let us into the apartment.

"It was hard for you, too," I acknowledged.

I still felt bad that I'd been so self-centered earlier.

I'd only been thinking about how the case was affecting me instead of realizing that it was affecting Bobby, too.

"It was," he agreed. "But I've only known him as a man. You knew him as a child, growing up, and I can appreciate that it gives you a different perspective and maybe made it a little harder to accept."

I tossed my jacket on the table and then set down my badge and gun, too.

I thought about his words as I divested myself of the hardware and then I turned back to look at him again.

He was still watching me.

I loved that he always seemed to focus on me.

Even back in the old days when we were just partners, he'd always looked to me for support and acknowledgement and confirmation.

Of course, I guess we were never really just partners, but still…he always made me feel so…important.

"I don't want to talk about the case tonight," I told him.

"No?"

"No," I said as I stepped closer to him. "In fact, why don't we see if you can just make me forget about everything?"

At the issuance of my challenge, he reacted immediately.

He brought his hands up to my face, tilting my head back as he brought his lips down to mine. Only he didn't quite make contact. Instead, he hovered a fraction of an inch away as his eyes locked onto mine.

And I would've thought that after more than six months of being his lover I wouldn't squirm from the anticipation of a kiss.

But I did.

My insides fluttered as I went up on my toes in an effort to breach that last distance myself since he was bent on teasing, but instead he moved to kiss my cheek.

Then he used his hand to tip my head sideways as he began a gentle assault on my neck and ear.

His touch was light and his kisses fleeting and yet I could feel the heat burning inside of me.

He ran his hand over my hair, pushing it back from my shoulder and letting his fingers trail along the other side of my neck.

We were still standing in the foyer. In fact, he was still wearing his coat.

But I was rapidly losing track of everything else.

He still had yet to kiss my lips and I suddenly desperately needed him to.

I brought my hand up to his cheek in an effort to bring his mouth to mine, but he caught my wrist with his hand and instead began kissing my palm and my wrist.

He pushed up my sleeve and continued moving his mouth along the inside of my arm.

And then suddenly, he reached down and picked me up, cradling me in his arms and heading down the hallway.

It never once entered my mind to protest. I loved when he got like this.

He was a man on a mission, and that mission was me.

"I know how to make love in a bed," he said in a husky voice.

"I never said that you didn't," I replied, smiling at his insolence.

"You just think that I'm a little weird because I like to be creative," he said, and by this time we were in the bedroom.

He was standing at the foot of the bed, but he didn't seem to be ready to let me go yet.

Which was fine.

Then he kissed my forehead before moving down to gently kiss my eyelids and the tip of my nose.

"I think you are the most incredible lover ever because you like to be creative," I whispered, keeping my eyes closed as I enjoyed the feel of his lips.

He was still tormenting me by avoiding my mouth, but I could think of worse things.

He was just letting it build.

And he was doing a damn good job of occupying my mind.

He set me down on the bed, carefully as though I might break, and then began slowly undressing me.

Every nerve ending was on alert and every part of me was screaming to be touched.

But still, he took his time and I let him.

And he touched me everywhere.

Almost.

He put his finger at my throat and traced a line down the center of my body. And then he veered to one side or the other, running it down the length of my leg.

Then he'd follow that path with his mouth, moving oh so slowly.

I couldn't lie still anymore, he'd worked me into such a frenzy and yet he still hadn't touched me where I needed it the most. And he still hadn't kissed me.

Then suddenly he stopped altogether, and I opened my eyes to find him standing at the foot of the bed, just now taking off his clothes. I held his gaze as he moved deliberately, taking his time to remove each article. I wanted to jump up and rip every stitch from him, but my muscles had turned to jell-o.

"Hurry," I managed to say. I should've been embarrassed by the desperate sound of my own voice, but I wasn't. I wasn't ashamed of the fact that I needed him.

"No," he answered with a smile.

And finally, _finally_ he was completely bare before me.

I broke his gaze and let my eyes look him over. I never got tired of looking at him.

He was so beautiful, so masculine, so…

My train of thought escaped me as he moved onto the bed.

He put his hands on my hips and brought his mouth down to my stomach, kissing me there before turning his cheek to run his whiskers over my skin.

I was so close already, _so close_ and yet he'd barely even begun.

I knew that it would only take him pushing inside of me for me to lose my tenuous grip.

And as soon as I had that thought, I couldn't think of anything else.

I put my hands on his shoulders, encouraging him to move to where I wanted him to be, but again, he took his time about it.

He leisurely kissed his way up my body, alternating his lips and tongue and stubble until I was nearly out of my mind. And just when I thought that I'd surely go insane from wanting him, he brought his lips to mine.

Only the unhurried pace was gone.

He kissed me as if his very life depended on it.

And maybe it did.

Mine sure as hell did.

I moved my hands into his hair and focused all of my energy just on kissing him.

And then he lowered his hips to mine and I felt him pressing against me.

Not where I wanted him.

Not where I _needed_ him.

But so close…

I ran my hands down his back and over his butt as I shifted beneath him. He broke off the kiss and pulled back to look at me.

"There's no rush," he chastised, although I could tell that he was pleased with himself.

"Bobby, please," was all I could bring myself to say. Because it was all I could think.

_Please, please, please…I just need…_

He grabbed my wrists in his hands and held them over my head as he brought his lips down on mine again.

In this position, I could feel his whole body up against mine.

And just when I thought I couldn't take another second of the sweet, glorious torture, he pushed into me, forcefully, all at once, and I was completely undone.

He'd had me so worked up, so close, that one stroke was all it took.

I called out his name as he held still, riding it out with me until I was able to breathe again.

When I opened my eyes to look at him, he finally started to move.

He kept up a slow, drawn-out rhythm of long, purposeful strokes that served to bring me right back to the edge.

"Keep your eyes open," he instructed gently when he sensed that I was almost to the point of no return.

So I did.

I watched him and he watched me as we got there together.

We were both quiet for several long minutes, and he was the first one to find his voice.

"Was it good for you?" he asked with a smug grin. He knew damn well it was, but I didn't mind stroking his ego. After a performance like that, he deserved it.

"I'm thinking that if I was a smoker, I'd be lighting up right about now."

"I made you forget…" he questioned carefully.

"I'm not even sure I remember my own name," I told him, matching his smile. "But I know yours, so I think that's all that matters."

TBC...


	14. Chapter 14

**Liz POV**

* * *

I walked into Steve-O's fully prepared to sandbag my best friends.

Because there was no way in the world that I was going to admit to the things that were really on my mind.

If I thought that I could get away with not showing up, I would've just blown them off.

But they would've tracked me down.

So I had to at least pretend to tell them my feelings, even if I had to make it up.

I wasn't sure if I was a good enough actress to pull it off, but I was about to find out because they were already seated at a table, waiting for me.

They'd chosen one in the back, out of the mainstream traffic, and the seat they'd left open for me would have me sitting with my back to the room.

As if they were expecting that I might cry.

And that was _not _going to happen.

I knew they meant well and I appreciated that they cared enough to ask, but some things…some _thoughts_ were never meant to see the light of day.

So as I sat down, I decided to start with business.

"I've gone over your John Doe with a fine-toothed comb," I said to Carolyn. "There's no trace evidence to be found. The Hudson washed him clean, if you can imagine."

"It was worth a shot," she replied.

"Yes," I agreed. "And tomorrow I'll do it in reverse. I've logged the John Doe's DNA into the system, so I'll see if I can pull anything off of Dominick Eckhart that matches up. Do you think it will?"

"Honestly?" Alex responded. "I have absolutely no idea. Bobby and I spent the whole day trying to shake loose a lead in this case, but so far we don't have much. Although we did manage to tick off CSU by bringing them bags of stuff we gathered from the dumpsters in the alley. But it's hard to tell what might be evidence versus what's trash, right?"

"Exactly," Carolyn agreed. "They should've gathered that stuff the first time."

"That's what I said," Alex responded. "But so we got miles of potential evidence from the dumpsters and we re-canvassed the area, but we're still pretty short on leads."

"What about the pictures from the camera?" Carolyn asked her.

"Oh, are these the good kind of pictures?" I asked, raising my eyebrow in suggestion.

And I was only half-hearted about it, but I knew that they expected me to make a joke.

That was usually what I did.

Not a ha ha kind of joke, but something subtly funny and suitably sarcastic.

But I barely had it in me.

I didn't feel funny or sarcastic.

I just felt tired.

And old.

"Actually, some of them were," Alex said. "The scary part was as I was scrolling through them, I was really afraid that Kevin might show up in one. I mean, he was in a few where all of the subjects had their clothes _on_, but thankfully he wasn't in any of the ones where the clothes were _off_. I'm not sure if I could've recovered from something like that."

"He's a nice looking guy," Carolyn teased with a hint of a smile on her face.

"He's my _brother_," Alex retorted quickly. "That's just…wrong."

Carolyn started laughing and so did Alex.

I just watched them both.

"Can I get you a drink?" the waitress asked as she approached our table. Alex and Carolyn were both working on potent-looking drinks that I guessed to be kamikazes.

"I'll have what they're having," I told her.

"So Kevin wasn't in the pictures," I said, picking up the conversation again. "Who was it?"

"Our vic with various lovers," Alex replied as she took a sip of her drink. "And not just one at a time."

"Ménage a trois?" Carolyn asked with a grin.

"More like ménage a quatre," Alex laughed. "I can't imagine what would make a woman want to share a man with two other women, but…to each his own, I guess."

"So did you get anything from the pictures of the car?" Carolyn asked her.

"No. It's a red Mercedes, but from what we could see, it's completely stock. Do you have any idea how many red Mercedes there are in the tri-state area?"

"No," I said, shaking my head.

"A lot. And then I had to go get Kevin's pry axe from him and drop it off at the lab to get it checked for blood. That was a great conversation."

"Is he upset with you for investigating him?" I asked her.

"Not really. I mean, he understands. But…he has a lot going on in his life right now, and…I don't know," she trailed off vaguely.

"Well, we spent the day going through missing persons photos," Carolyn announced. "And it was fruitless. Whoever our guy is, no one reported him missing. His clothes haven't turned up, no hits on the dental records, no one saw him go in the river…I'm about ready to write it off after two days. And you know that is not like me."

"Mike either," I agreed. "He's a bloodhound."

"Yes he is," Carolyn replied with a smile, apparently liking my description of him.

And I could've said a lot more.

Because I really liked Logan.

He was a gentleman wrapped in a good-looking, rugged exterior. And he was tough to know but easy to love.

Of course, so were the other men in our circle.

Bobby…Lupo…

And Danny? Did he fit into that?

"Well, whoever killed our guy did a bang-up job of covering his tracks," Alex commiserated. "Our best suspect is my own damn brother."

In apparent frustration, Alex tossed back the rest of her drink and signaled to the waitress for another.

Silence fell over the table and I suddenly found myself with a knot in my stomach.

Were they just going to sit here and pretend that they hadn't practically ordered me to attend this little soiree?

I almost hoped that they would.

But of course, that's not what happened.

"So are we going to have to finesse it out of you or are you going to remember that we're your best friends and tell us on your own?" Carolyn said at last.

She's smart, that one.

She managed to make me feel obligated and guilty and cared-for all in the same sentence.

"Because we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Alex picked up. "And the hard way involves us inviting your husband to join us. Do you want to go that route?"

Yeah, she's smart, too.

And if I didn't like them so much they'd probably annoy the hell out of me.

"Why would I care if you called Danny?" I asked boldly.

I did care. But I wanted to know why they thought I cared.

"Because he's been pretty busy lately, which made it convenient timing for you to have a breakdown. I'm betting it hasn't fully hit him, but I'm sure he'd be worried sick about you if he knew."

"A breakdown? I am _not_ having a breakdown. Just because I haven't been in the greatest mood…"

"Liz," Alex interrupted. "Stop. You can't dupe us. Does Ross know that you quit going to Olivet?"

"Thank you, Carolyn," I said sharply. "I told you that in confidence."

"Which includes Alex, even if she's not in the room," she reminded me.

And of course I knew that, but I was definitely starting to feel like they were ganging up on me.

I drank my whole drink in one gulp and then set the glass down hard.

"I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for a girls' night tonight. I've got lots to do at the office, so I can't just sit around here drinking with you two."

"So…what? You're going to go back to the office? With Andrew?"

"What does Andrew have to do with this?"

"He's got a thing for you," Carolyn stated. "Do you have a thing for him?"

"You think I'm cheating on Danny?"

"I don't know what to think."

"Think whatever the hell you want," I said angrily as I got up from the table. But Alex got up, too, and she put her hand on my arm.

"Stay. We just want to talk. Because whatever's going on with you has us worried. We care about you and we want to help."

She had to go and pull emotion into it. Or maybe my feelings were just too close to the surface.

Whichever the case, the fact that Alex said they cared about me brought tears to my eyes.

Carolyn got up from the table, too, and moved around to stand in front of me.

"You helped me when I needed it," she said. "Without you…I don't know. I don't know how long it might've taken me to recover. So let me return the favor."

I nodded, afraid that more tears would come if I tried to speak, and then we all sat back down at the table.

"I don't…I don't know where to start," I managed to say.

"Why did you stop your sessions?" Alex asked gently.

"They weren't helping. She just kept asking me questions rather than giving me answers. I have enough of my own questions. I don't need to hear hers, too."

"Okay," Carolyn said with a nod. "Personally, I hate shrinks, so I can definitely see why you felt like that. But then you cut us off, too."

"You're both just like damn shrinks," I said and even though the words were callous I couldn't help but smile a little.

"And you wanted time to wallow and feel sorry for yourself," Alex said.

"No," I argued. "Well, I don't know."

"Tell us about Andrew," Carolyn said.

"What is it with you and Andrew?" I countered. "Why are you so fascinated with the idea that my assistant has a thing for me? Is that so hard to believe?"

Carolyn smirked at me and replied, "So you admit that he has a thing for you. See? We're making progress."

"And no," Alex added. "It's not hard to believe at all. Why would you think that?"

I stared at both of them for a minute and then sighed heavily.

It was exhausting trying to keep up a front, but I just wasn't sure if they would understand.

Hell, I wasn't even sure that _I_ understood, and really, once you say something, it's out there and you can't take it back.

What if I confided in them with something that changed their perspective of me?

For the worse?

"I'm not cheating on Danny," I stated. "I wouldn't do that."

"Physically," Alex quantified. "But what about emotionally?"

"Why, because I talk to Andrew? Well, he listens. He's interested in what I have to say."

"Ross isn't?"

"I haven't seen much of him lately," I admitted.

"Because of his new job," Carolyn said. "But you knew it would be like that for awhile. When you came to our house that night and he made his announcement…I've never seen you so proud. What changed?"

"Besides," Alex added. "You guys are both very career-oriented, but you've been together for a long time now, and you always make time for each other."

"So are you two marriage counselors now?"

"We're trying to get to the underlying cause of your unhappiness."

"You do know that right now you sound exactly like a shrink, right?"

"As long as I look better than your last shrink, then I'm okay with that," Carolyn replied with a smile.

And I appreciated that she was trying to keep things from being too heavy.

But I was afraid to dig too deep inside of myself. I wasn't sure of what I would find.

I wasn't sure if I was as strong as Alex and Carolyn.

In fact, I was pretty sure that I wasn't.

"You killed Peter Boyer," Carolyn said suddenly.

"Yes, I am aware of that fact," I replied sharply, and I felt my pulse quicken at the mention of the man I'd killed.

"How does that make you feel?"

"How do you think it makes me feel, Doctor?" I snapped back.

"I have no idea. You haven't really talked about it. But if you remember, not too long ago I had to kill two people over the course of about a week."

"That was different."

"How?"

"One was your captor. The other a deranged criminal."

I watched as Alex and Carolyn looked at each other and then they both turned back towards me.

"And the man you killed was _both_," Alex said as though it should be obvious. "He was a murderer, a paroled felon, and he was holding you captive in your own office. If anyone ever had a reason to kill…"

"No one should. I deal with murder victims every single day. It's never okay."

"Never," Carolyn said quietly. "So…I should've let Adam Taggart have his way with me. I should've let him take me to North Carolina to be his sex slave."

"Of course not," I said. "I didn't mean that, I meant…"

"And she should've let Rhonda Hagen live," Alex said. "Even though she'd shot at Mike and John, targeted Bobby, killed countless elderly men, ordered the kidnapping and murder…"

"No," I said firmly. "No, that's not what I'm saying."

"You're saying that it's okay for me, but not for you," Carolyn stated.

"I'm saying that I hate being afraid, okay?" I said loudly. "I go into work and I keep the door locked, and I constantly watch the doors, and I triple knot the string on my damn pants _every single day._ That's what I'm saying. And I don't feel bad about killing Pebo. I did at first, but I don't now, okay? He was sent to rape me and kill me just to get at Danny and if I had it to do over again, I'd do the same exact thing. There, is that what you wanted to hear?"

"It's a start," Alex said with a nod. "And you're right not to feel bad for killing him. You were protecting yourself. He came to you and he tried to hurt you. You did what you had to do."

"Right," I said, although I was somewhat surprised by my own words.

"And so you're afraid to go to work," Carolyn said. "Because of Danny, right? Because if he was a potential target as the captain of Major Case, just imagine how many crazies will look at him now that he's chief."

"Exactly," I answered without thinking. "Exactly, so why am I staying with him? Why am I putting myself in that position?"

I slammed my hands down on the table as I said the words and I was suddenly aware that I was making a scene.

Although maybe not in the sense that others were watching. I mean, the place was fairly noisy and we were in the back.

But I'd just completely unloaded on Carolyn and Alex.

This was what I'd been afraid of all along.

Of course, it was too late to go back now.

"That's why I let Andrew stay so close to me. I like when he's around because it makes me feel more safe," I admitted. "He's happy just being around me. There's no pressure and there's no expectations and…and…"

"And there's not much chance of someone attacking you as long as you're not alone," Alex said knowingly.

I nodded, but didn't speak and I was grateful when the waitress cautiously approached the table to see about bringing us more drinks.

"All the way around," Carolyn told her.

"I don't know what to do," I admitted once we were alone again. "I can't…I can't stop blaming Danny. And I can't help but feel like it's not worth it. Being with him isn't worth it."

I was ashamed to say the words out loud but I had to.

I'd been saying them in my head for weeks now and they weren't going away.

But the thing was, I wasn't sure if it was true.

_Was_ he worth it?

I mean, I loved him. I hadn't stopped loving him.

But I definitely still held him responsible for what had happened.

"Are you sure about that?" Alex asked me. "Because I think maybe you're pushing him away to make it easier on yourself."

"How does that make it easy on me?"

"You can keep blaming him," Carolyn said. "You're driving a wedge between the two of you and since he's not trying to pull it out, you're thinking that you're right to want to walk away. But you're not being fair to him."

"I'm not being fair?"

Of course, I wasn't.

I knew that.

How could he have possibly known that Matt Harker would send his flunky after me?

And I couldn't forget that night after we'd gone home. How he'd searched the house relentlessly just to make sure that it was safe.

For me. He'd wanted to make it safe _for me_.

"Because he's going to be blind-sided with this. You're pretty damn good at faking it," Carolyn said.

"How do you know I'm faking?"

"Because the old Liz would've had a ready joke about faking it," Alex said with a smile.

I barked out a laugh, finding it much preferable to bursting into tears, which was my only other alternative.

"So...talking to us. This was step one," Carolyn said after we were served the round of drinks. "Step two is for you to talk to Danny."

"How many steps are there in this program?"

"However many it takes," Alex said. "But we're going to keep repeating this first step. Haven't you learned by now that you can't hide from us?"

"You would think," I agreed with a smirk. Then I took a deep breath and picked up my drink. "So does this mean that I have to start deflecting Andrew's attention?"

"Nah," Carolyn said. "It's always fun to be the object of a crush." But then she got serious and added, "But don't use him as your crutch. If you're scared at work, we'll do something about that. We can talk to the chief medical examiner about upping the security, you can get a gun…something."

"And Liz, there's nothing wrong with admitting that you're scared. Do you think we're never afraid?"

"Yeah, that's what I think," I admitted. "You two face guys like that every day."

"With partners by our sides and guns on our hips," Carolyn reminded me. "So you do what you need to do to help yourself feel safe, but you can't let it change your life. Because then he wins, right? I think a really smart woman told me that once."

I gave her a smile and a nod and then tossed back my drink.

I felt slightly better.

Lighter, maybe.

I definitely still had some issues to deal with but they'd reminded me yet again that they were both here to talk to.

And I'd underestimated them by thinking that they wouldn't understand.

They'd both seen a lot and been through a lot.

"Okay, can we talk about something else now?" I asked. At their combined skeptical looks, I added, "Just for a little while. I need to take baby steps, okay? And I really need to laugh."

They looked at each other and shrugged before turning back to me.

"Okay," Alex said. "Well, I talked to Connie today."

"And?" I asked, relaxing for the first time since…well, a long time.

"You won't believe what Lupo did in front of her brother."

TBC...


	15. Chapter 15

**Connie POV**

* * *

I hadn't talked to Lupo all day and I have to admit to being a little worried.

Because Ben had ridden along with him and Bernard.

And Ben's a good guy.

I mean, I think he's a great guy, but he's also a little on the overprotective side and Lupo is a little on the insecure side so I was afraid of what ten hours together might do to Lupo's confidence.

If Ben started telling him that he wasn't good enough for me, then I was going to have my work cut out for me.

Because first off, I'd have to hurt Ben.

And then I'd have to rebuild Lupo's self-esteem.

It was strange how confident he was in every other aspect of his life and yet not with me.

Although he'd been getting better lately.

Until he had that little slip in front of Ben yesterday.

I began unpacking the take-out that I'd picked up for dinner, chuckling at the memory.

I could just imagine that Lupo had wanted to melt into the floor when he realized that Ben had heard.

And I felt for him, I really did, because that was not the way that _anyone_ wanted to meet _anyone_.

So after he'd left to take a shower, which was a good thing because he really did smell bad, I'd clipped on Otto's leash and shoved the handle into Ben's hand.

"Walk him," I'd said. "Give us thirty minutes."

"Why, so you two can have a good hard fuck on the kitchen floor?"

That comment had earned him a whack on the back of the head, but then I'd replied, "Maybe. But you're going to leave us alone and then come back and be nice. Because I really love this guy, Ben. And no matter what kind of an ass you decide to be towards him isn't going to change the fact that I'm going to marry him. So you can either be supportive and be included, or not. It's up to you."

I'd left him standing wide-eyed in the foyer.

And then I'd gone about helping Lupo recover.

When Ben came back, the two of them had gone into the living room with a couple of beers, and the evening went well from there.

I'd been surprised to hear that Lupo was taking Ben with him today, but I appreciated that he was willing to make the concession.

And apparently Ben had decided that he wanted to make the effort to get to know Lupo better.

So while I was glad for that, I was also a little anxious about how the day had gone.

As I set the food out on the table, I heard the key in the lock.

"But doesn't it have to be the wife?" Ben was saying as they came into the apartment.

"You would think so," Lupo agreed. "But she's got a solid alibi."

"What, the spa? How do you know the girl there isn't covering for her?"

"Bernard's pulling the video surveillance. Mr. Eames spoke with Sundberg at seven-thirty, and Allison supposedly showed up at the spa across town at ten minutes before eight. There's no way that she could've killed him and made it over there in twenty minutes."

"What if it wasn't the dead guy?"

"What if what wasn't the dead guy?" Lupo responded as he approached me.

He kissed me, and not just a peck on the cheek, and then he turned back to Ben as they finished their conversation.

Ben never blinked at the display of affection, and Lupo just slipped his arm around my waist while they continued to discuss the case.

_I guess the day went well_, I thought with a smile.

"What if Eames talked to someone else? Like maybe the boyfriend. Maybe he only thought he was talking to Sundberg."

"So she left the office, went home and killed Richard, then she headed for the spa while the boyfriend hung around to answer the phone?"

"Well, he could've been cleaning up or something. Maybe he didn't expect to get a phone call."

"He didn't. They expected that Johnny would go to the house. They wouldn't have hung around," Lupo responded. Then he paused for a minute before adding, "Shit. I need to make a call."

He pulled out his cell and wandered into the living room.

"So you two are getting along," I remarked to Ben.

"It was pretty exciting, actually," Ben admitted. "And your guy…he's smart."

"I know," I said with a smile.

"And he was very respectful of the old guy. He's a friend's father?"

"Yeah, Alex. Hopefully you'll get to meet her before you go back. I'm going to try to get everyone together Friday, but you know…they're all cops, so it's hard to coordinate schedules."

"All of your friends are cops now?" he asked me as I handed him a beer. I opened one for Lupo and myself as well.

"Well, most of them. One is a medical examiner."

"Oh, I bet he's a lot of fun at parties."

"She. And yeah, she is. Her husband is the Chief of D's."

"I've never known you to have so many friends," he commented curiously. "And you're happy."

"I'm very happy."

"Good."

"Hey, Ben, you might have helped us out there," Lupo said as he came back into the kitchen. I handed him the bottle of Sam Adams, so he took a quick drink before he added, "The call that Johnny made was to a cell number. I don't remember finding a cell phone at the scene. I've got CSU going back through the evidence log now."

"So the guy doesn't have his cell?"

"It doesn't look like it. Which means…"

"Which means that your killers took it with them and when the call came in from Johnny, they pretended to be Richard," I finished for him.

Ben and Lupo both looked at me, and I just shrugged and added, "Hey, I pay attention."

Lupo grinned at me and wrapped one arm around me again.

"So, tomorrow we get to talk to the wife, right?" Ben asked. "And the boyfriend?"

"We?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I get to come with you again tomorrow, right? I did just sort of remind you about a key factor in the case."

"I thought you'd want to come to court tomorrow," I said. I loved that Ben wanted to go with Lupo again, but I didn't want him to wear out his welcome. Lupo's job was tough and dangerous and he didn't need an amateur watching over his shoulder. "I should be able to get to closing remarks by the end of the day."

"Um…well, how about if I work with Lupo in the morning and then he can drop me by the courthouse in the afternoon? I mean, if that's okay with you, Lupo."

He readily agreed, and the rest of the evening went well.

I found myself tremendously relieved by Ben's affability.

And it wasn't just an act, I could tell.

He really seemed to like Lupo.

Of course, I couldn't imagine what wasn't to like, but still…you could never tell how a big brother was going to respond.

"I talked to Mary today," I told Lupo as we got ready for bed. Ben was already situated on the couch.

"Mary Shannon?"

"Yeah. She called, which was kind of nice," I said, and then I laughed and added, "Although she admitted that she called me because I was too nice to blow her off."

"As opposed to Alex or Carolyn?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said, still chuckling. "I'm sure she was kidding. She knows how busy those two are."

"You're busy."

"Different kind of busy," I stated. I wasn't offended by her comment. "Anyway, she wanted some help finding an apartment."

"So she's taking the job?"

"Uh huh. She won't be here for another month, but she wanted an insider's point of view on the best place to live that would be cost-effective without being too rundown."

"It's too bad your apartment already sold," he replied. "That would've been perfect."

"Uh huh. Oh, and she said that John's in London right now, on business of some sort. Did you know that?"

"No, I haven't talked to him recently. You know, I'm surprised that she's moving here," he commented as he climbed into bed. I was already under the covers, so I quickly adjusted to snuggle up against his side. Otto promptly jumped up on the bed and lay across our feet. "She doesn't seem like the type who would drop everything and move across the country for a man."

"I don't think she's doing it for John. I mean, he's pretty mobile. He's out there quite a bit already, and it's not like she's moving to Atlantic City."

"Then why?"

"It's a prestigious job. More money, more responsibility, and more power to make a difference. She won't just be protecting witnesses in Albuquerque. She'll be overseeing dozens of inspectors who protect witnesses all over the country. She can make sure that the job gets done right."

"Kind of like Ross," he stated. "Move up the chain in order to make sure things happen as they should. I can understand that."

"Of course, I'm sure it doesn't hurt that the move positioned her closer to John," I added with a smile. "And her partner transferred out of Albuquerque, too, so she didn't have much there to make her want to stay."

We were both quiet for a minute as I ran my fingers across his chest.

"So you and Ben…" I said at last.

"I like him," he answered. "And for some reason, he's fascinated with police work."

"He always wanted to be a cop when he was a kid," I told him. "But in high school, he began to take notice of the low percentage of kids actually graduating in our neighborhood and he suddenly changed his mind. He said that getting to them early, providing a good education at the elementary level, would give them a better chance to be successful later on."

"He's a smart guy."

"That's what he said about you," I said with a smile. "So see? You didn't ruin everything with your suggestion last night."

"Yeah, well he did say that he was never going to walk barefoot in our kitchen," he said with a chuckle.

I slid my leg over his and reached up to kiss his cheek.

"Well, you know, we're not in the kitchen, but I wouldn't be opposed to following through with your idea in the bed."

"Otto's going to bark," he warned me, although he tightened his arm around my back, easing me on top of him.

"Let him bark."

**

* * *

**

Ross POV

I waited patiently for Liz to come home from the bar.

I knew that Alex and Carolyn had taken her out, and I knew why.

I'm not blind.

I could see what was happening.

She was pulling away from me because she blamed me for what had happened.

She viewed me as the cause, and even though I knew that intellectually she understood it wasn't my fault, she couldn't change how she felt about it emotionally.

And maybe her pulling away wasn't such a bad thing.

I mean, the attack _had_ occurred because of me.

Not directly of course, but if I hadn't handled Harker the way that I did, then maybe none of it would've ever happened.

And yeah, he was certifiable.

And no, I have no idea what else I could've done because he certainly didn't deserve to be in Major Case.

But still…ultimately, I was responsible.

So no matter how much I loved her, what was more important?

That I keep her safe?

Or that I was selfish and kept her with me?

Because what if the next psycho did the same thing?

I couldn't guarantee her safety.

And that should be my prime obligation.

To protect my wife.

Instead, I was putting her in harm's way.

So for the past few weeks, I'd seen her creating distance, and I'd let it happen.

But I was missing her.

Yesterday, I'd wanted to see her for lunch but she'd blown me off.

So I went by her office to surprise her and I'd seen her eating lunch in her office with her assistant.

And she'd been smiling.

I couldn't remember the last time she'd smiled at me, so that was like a kick to the groin.

I'd stood frozen in the autopsy suite, staring at her through the window as she continued to smile and talk with Andrew.

And then I'd turned and walked away.

Monday night, she didn't come home until late.

_Really_ late.

And she didn't have much to say, although I guess I had to give her credit for pretending to still like me a little.

At least she didn't tell me to go sleep on the couch, which was what Nancy had done when our marriage started crumbling.

So I'd lain next to her and stared at the ceiling all night while trying to decide what to do next.

I mean, surely she wasn't having an affair with that guy.

He was just a kid.

And Liz wasn't the type to cheat.

But she'd looked so happy which was something she rarely looked around me anymore.

_I should let her go_, I thought as I sat on the couch and sipped my bourbon. _She wants to go. She's just too kind to say the words_.

And then she came in the door and I felt a squeezing pain in my chest.

Just the sight of her made me lose all resolve to do the honorable thing.

I loved her too much to let her go.

"Hi," I said, forcing myself to be casual.

"Danny," she said in surprise. "I didn't think you'd still be up. I'm sorry that I'm so late, but you know how Alex and Carolyn can be."

She was drunk, I could tell.

Not fall-down drunk, but definitely very tipsy.

And she seemed…I don't know.

Almost not unhappy to see me.

"I do know," I agreed as I set my drink down on the coffee table and got up from the couch. "So you had a good time?"

She was struggling to get out of her coat, so I walked over to help her.

"Thanks," she said sheepishly. "I guess maybe I had a few more than I realized."

"But you had a good time?" I asked again. I hung her coat up on the rack and turned back toward her.

"I did," she said with a smile.

A smile.

A real, genuine smile.

"Good," I told her as I guided her into the living room.

And maybe right now wasn't the best time to have a soul-searching talk, but I did want to make sure that she knew a few facts.

"I've missed you lately," I said. "It seems we're on two different planes."

"I wasn't sure if you'd noticed," she replied.

"I definitely noticed. Liz, I…"

"I don't want to talk right now, Danny."

"We need to."

"I know, but not…not now, okay?" she asked, and she was practically pleading with me.

I wasn't sure if I should let the moment go, but then she put her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"I just need some time," she whispered.

"I'll give you anything you need," I promised. "Just don't…don't…"

And I wasn't sure how to finish that.

But then the words popped into my head.

Don't leave me.

_That _was the rest of that sentence.

_Please don't leave me._

"You know what I need right now?" she asked me quietly. She let go of me and pulled back, bringing her eyes to mine.

"What? Anything."

"Show me how much you love me," she said, and it broke my heart to see that her eyes filled with tears as she said the words.

As if she had doubt.

So I took her by the hand and together we went upstairs.

We didn't talk.

In fact, neither of us said another word.

But I made damn sure that she knew exactly how I felt, and when we finished, she stayed in my arms and rested her head against my chest.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You never have to thank me for that."

"For being patient," she said. "And for loving me. I know I've been…well, thank you."

"You never have to thank me for loving you, either," I said, tightening my arm to pull her even closer to me. "I should be thanking you."

"For being difficult? And standoffish? And borderline crazy?" she said and relief flooded through me as she lightly chuckled and damn near sounded like herself.

"For being you," I countered.

We fell silent and I felt her relax in my embrace. After several long minutes, she spoke again.

"Don't give up on me, Danny."

And her voice cracked on the words.

I wanted to make her talk, to make her tell me everything that was going on in her head, but I didn't.

Because the most important thing was that she wasn't shutting me out completely.

And she still loved me.

"There's not a chance in hell of that."

TBC...


	16. Chapter 16

**Bobby POV**

* * *

I woke up on Wednesday morning to the sound of Alex talking.

I could tell that she was trying to be quiet, and yet she was also borderline irritated.

The irritation probably stemmed more from her hangover than from whoever was on the other end of the line but still…I felt for the possibly-innocent victim.

Because she'd come home fairly intoxicated last night.

I'd most definitely reaped the benefits of her night out with Carolyn and Liz because she'd been in a particularly amorous mood.

Apparently she felt like they'd been able to get through to Liz and had made some headway into helping her get past her current crisis.

And Alex is an adventurous lover when she's stone cold sober, so if a healthy amount of alcohol is added to the mix, she's downright dangerous.

_In a good way_, I thought with a smile as I rolled out of the bed.

I was actually sore.

"Why is it that I don't believe you?" she was asking.

I picked up a pair of sweatpants from the chair and put them on before making my way down the hall.

"I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just saying that surely you can understand why I'm suspicious," she continued.

She was standing in the kitchen with the phone cradled between her cheek and her shoulder while she battled with the cap on a bottle of aspirin.

I kissed her on the top of her head and then took the container from her and popped off the cap.

_Thank you,_ she mouthed as she took the bottle back from me and shook four aspirin out into her hand.

"Dad, you've been working alone for two days and I haven't heard a word from you."

Ah.

It was Johnny.

So maybe her annoyance was from more than just the hangover.

He'd been conspicuously avoiding our calls which meant that he'd stepped in _something_.

And I knew that Alex was being protective of both the business and her father, but still…she maybe needed to give him some space.

"You have to trust him," I whispered into her free ear as I wrapped my arms around her from behind. "He knows what he's doing."

"Are you sure?" she asked, and I wasn't sure if that was meant for me or Johnny, but I answered anyway.

"No," I admitted quietly.

"What case are you working on?" she said, running her hand through her hair before reaching behind her to place her palm against my cheek.

I squeezed her tighter and then leaned down to kiss her neck. I saw that I'd left a very noticeable mark on one side.

She was going to have to wear a turtleneck for a couple of days.

"Have you sent him the bill?" she continued. "You got the pictures a few days ago. Dad, you can't just let these things linger. If you gave him the evidence, send him a bill and close the file."

It was probably a good thing that I couldn't hear Johnny's reply, because surely he was less than thrilled to have his daughter tell him how to do his job.

"What makes you think he's not going to pay? Dad…"

"Alex," I interrupted softly. "Let him handle it. Wouldn't you want him to do the same?"

She sighed heavily, but then conceded.

"Okay, Dad. I'll come out Friday and we'll go over the workload from the week, okay?"

She turned in my arms and I promptly ran my hands underneath her t-shirt. Or rather, _my_ t-shirt, and it was presently the only piece of clothing that she was wearing.

She grinned, but tried to move away from me since she was still on the phone, but I can be very persistent, especially when properly motivated.

"Love you, too, Dad. Okay. I'll see you Friday."

She quickly hung up and tossed the phone on the counter.

"You didn't get enough last night?" she laughed as my hands wandered over her bare skin.

"I never get enough of you," I growled as I picked her up and put her on the counter top.

I stepped between her legs and kissed her enthusiastically as my hands continued to roam.

Her skin was burning and I needed to feel it against mine, so I pulled the shirt off of her and then hugged her against my bare chest.

She hummed contentedly, resting her cheek against mine, with her chin on my shoulder.

"How do you feel?" I asked her as I trailed my fingers up and down her spine.

"I'm getting there. Some coffee and a shower ought to do me."

"That's all you need?" I replied suggestively.

"I distinctly remember you saying that you were going to need at least twenty-four hours to recuperate after last night."

"I'm sure I didn't say that."

"Yes you did," she said, and I could tell that she was smiling. "Remember? I think it was after the third time…"

"Okay, maybe I did. But you know what? I lied."

And it was a bold statement considering I really wasn't sure how well things would be working this morning because she really did wear me out last night, but again…with proper motivation I can be quite impressive.

We made it to work by eight.

Alex had a cup of coffee in her hand and a smile on her face.

And she was wearing a turtleneck.

"So," she began as we sat down at our desks. "I'm thinking that maybe we need to pull reports for stolen vehicles. It can't hurt to check and see if there are any red Mercedes on that list."

"You think our stalker stole the car?"

"Maybe. I mean, it would keep the heat off of him if he happened to be spotted, right?"

So we pulled the reports.

And what we found was rather interesting.

"It looks like Joshua Sabin filed a report two weeks ago," Alex said. "There's no follow-up notation. We should give him a call and find out if his car was ever recovered."

I dialed the number, but it went to an automated voice message which stated that the number was no longer in service.

"I'll look him up," Alex told me.

"Bobby," she said as the results popped up on the screen. "Look."

I went around to her desk and read over her shoulder.

Joshua Sabin had been murdered a week ago.

"He was killed a week after his car was stolen? Who's got it?" I asked her needlessly. Her fingers were already flying over the keys.

"It's at the 2-7," she said. "Let's go talk to Lieutenant Van Buren. If we can link up this car, then we might have another victim on our hands."

**

* * *

**

Johnny Eames POV

I'd called Alex this morning to check in.

I didn't want to do it, but I knew that the longer I ignored her, the more suspicious she would become.

And it didn't escape my notice that this was exactly what she had done to me last month. She and Sean and Cathy…they'd all avoided my calls just because they didn't want to tell me something.

Well, now I was the one who didn't want to tell.

And it wasn't that I thought she was going to get mad.

Not really.

I just wanted to make sure that I secured an acceptable outcome before admitting my little slip.

Because if I let it become public knowledge that the consulting agency which the four of them worked so hard to make successful had issues with maintaining confidentiality, well…that would not be good.

But if Lupo and Bernard could ascertain that the murder was not a direct result of my mistake….that would be much better.

But so I checked in with Alex.

And it sounded like I'd caught her on a hangover.

I know my little girl enough to know.

She was cranky and short-tempered.

I also knew the moment that Bobby came into the room with her.

I had to admit that the man had a way with her.

I don't want to know exactly what he'd done that had resulted in the softening of her tone and her sudden acquiescence to let me handle the job, but I am appreciative of it.

I managed to buy myself until Friday.

So I hung up with her and called Lupo.

"What time are we going to interview the wife?" I asked when he answered. I ignored the fact that he sounded groggy, as though I'd awakened him.

I mean, it was six-thirty. Shouldn't he be up and getting ready for work?

"Me and Bernard are going to bring her to the precinct this morning," he replied.

"What, are you ditching me?"

"I'm sure you have other cases. You don't have to keep sticking with us. It's an official Major Case."

"But…but what if she lies?"

"Allison? I'm betting that she will," he said. "But I'm curious to see exactly what she lies about."

"What about her boyfriend?"

"We haven't identified him yet."

"I showed you the pictures."

"I know. And she hasn't coughed up a name."

"You can't identify him from the photos?"

"Johnny, we don't exactly keep a database of people's asses," he said on a chuckle. "That's about all of him we can see in your pictures."

"I've got more," I told him. I'd only printed out the good ones. The ones which would've provided Richard with irrefutable evidence. After all, he hadn't cared _with whom_. He just wanted to know _if_.

"I'm sure I have more," I continued. "Pick me up at the office and then we'll go talk to Allison together. If I can find a good one of his face, one that she's in, too, then she won't be able to deny knowing him, right?"

I listened as he sighed heavily and then I heard a woman's voice mumbling something.

So he _was_ still in the bed.

"Come on, Lupo," I said, doing my best not to sound like I was begging. "You're going to have Ben with you today, too, right?"

He'd ridden with us yesterday and I had to admit to really liking the guy.

At one point, when Bernard and Lupo had ordered us to wait in the car, Ben had asked me what I thought of Lupo.

I could understand that he was worried about his sister.

Apparently the father wasn't around, so he was keeping an eye out for her.

"He's one of the good guys," I'd told him. "I don't know him that well, but my daughter thinks very highly of him, and she doesn't befriend just anyone."

"So I'm supposed to trust him because your daughter likes him?"

"No," I'd conceded. "But from what I've seen, he's honest and selfless and hard-working. And you should trust Connie's opinion of him. She's a very smart woman, and she loves him for a reason."

Sage advice that I should've given to myself awhile back, but at least now I could pass it along to someone else.

"Fine," Lupo barked into the phone. "I'll be there in thirty minutes."

Then I heard the woman's voice again and he must have put his hand over the phone, because I heard muted laughter, both male and female.

"Make it an hour," he amended, and then he hung up.

I was already at the office, so an hour would give me plenty of time to scroll through the dozens of photos that I'd taken while following Allison and I'd see if I could find a good one of her Romeo's face.

**

* * *

**

Lupo POV

"You really shouldn't do that when I'm on the phone," I chastised Connie after hanging up with Johnny. "That was Alex's dad."

Of course, I didn't mean it. She could do that whenever the urge hit her as far as I was concerned.

"It's not like he could see what I was doing," she said unrepentantly. She had a firm grasp on me and now that I'd tossed the phone to the table, I pulled her into my arms.

"I just agreed to take him with us today," I told her. "Because my brain wasn't working well enough to think of an excuse not to."

"Did I make it hard for you?" she teased as she increased her movements.

"Always," I agreed on a groan.

She kissed me but only briefly before she began kissing her way down my chest.

Then she flung the covers back and moved over me so that she could continue the downward track.

Of course, that was when Otto started barking.

"Sshh," she told him. "Mama's fine."

"Yes she is," I muttered as she resumed what she'd been doing. "Mama is _very_ fine."

I leaned my head back against the pillow and closed my eyes.

Otto kept barking. And then Ben started knocking.

"Connie? Are you guys up?"

That was almost enough to blow the mood.

"I don't know how we'd be asleep through the barking," she retorted as she rolled her eyes at me.

"I'm already dressed. Let him out and I'll go take him for a walk."

I was starting to like Ben more and more by the minute.

Connie grabbed my shirt off the floor and quickly slipped it on while I pulled the sheets back over me.

She cracked the door just enough to let Otto out.

"We'll leave in forty-five minutes," I called out to him.

"No problem."

She closed the door and whipped off the shirt before jumping back into the bed.

"Now where were we, Detective Lupo?"

As it turned out, her question was rhetorical.

She knew exactly where we'd left off.

It was funny because I'd kind of expected that our sex life would be put on hold while Ben was visiting, but apparently not.

"I'm not going to pretend to be abstinent just because he's here," she told me afterwards, when I made the comment out loud. She was in the shower and I was standing at the sink trimming my beard. "There's nothing wrong with having a healthy sex life."

"No, there's not," I agreed. "I guess I'm just not used to being so open about it. It's not like he'd have to be a detective to know why Otto was barking. Last night or this morning."

"Ben and I don't have secrets," she replied. "Or at least, very few anyway."

She sounded sad when she made that last remark and it reminded me of what Ben had told me Monday night. I hadn't discussed it with her yet, although I definitely planned to.

Maybe now was the time.

"You kept it a secret from him when your old boyfriend hit you," I said quietly.

She was silent for a long time and I thought that maybe I'd upset her. Or made her mad.

Then at last, she pulled back the curtain.

"How do you know about that?"

"He told me."

"He knew?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod. I walked over to her and reached over to put my hand on her cheek, mindless of the spray from the shower. "He…um…he came up here and…"

"Oh," she said on a sigh. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I should've known."

"You never told me."

"I…was going to. At some point. I just…I didn't want you to think…I don't know. Less of me."

"Less of you? Why in the world would I think less of you?"

"Because I let it happen. And I didn't do anything about it."

"You mean you didn't press charges."

"Right."

"But you did do something about it. You left him. Did it happen more than once?"

"No."

"So you left him right away. That's something. That's more than a lot of women do."

"Maybe."

"Definitely. And I don't know, but I'm betting that he didn't come out of the situation unscathed."

"No," she said on a chuckle. "No, I hit him with a wine bottle."

"Which is why you don't drink wine," I stated as the realization hit me.

She nodded, and then reached over and turned the water off. I handed her a towel and then watched her as she carefully dried off and stepped out of the shower.

"I should be mad at Ben," she said. "For telling you. But I'm not. I wanted you to know, I just…didn't know how to tell you."

"Hey," I said softly, reaching out to pull her into my arms. "It's okay. I don't expect you to tell me every detail from your past. Not all at once anyway. We have a lot of years to learn all of the details, right?"

"We have the rest of our lives," she agreed, slipping her arms around my back.

"That's right. You think there aren't things in my past that I worry about? Things that I'm afraid may alter your perception of me?"

"I can't imagine what would make me stop loving you," she said, bringing her lips to mine. She kissed me firmly and then added, "Nothing. There's nothing that would ever make me stop."

"Well, I used to be a pothead," I said on a whisper. She barked out a laugh and pulled back to look at me.

"When?"

"In high school. When my mom was…well, when she was sick."

She continued to look at me and I added nervously, "What, is that a deal-breaker?"

"No," she said with a smile. "And it doesn't really surprise me. You were going through an impossible time. I'm just trying to picture you in high school. I bet you drove all of the girls crazy."

Now it was my turn to laugh as I thought back to the countless Friday nights I'd either spent at home or out with friends. But not on dates.

"Not hardly," I admitted. "I was kind of a late bloomer."

She smiled and then leaned in to kiss me.

"See? I knew we were perfect for each other. So was I."

"Lupo!" Ben yelled, banging on the bedroom door. "Today, or what?"

"I'm coming," I called back. I checked my watch and saw that we'd been in the bathroom for a lot longer than I realized. "Five minutes!"

"I'm going to be late," Connie remarked as she began getting dressed. "You know, I never used to be late."

"Before me?" I asked as I tucked in my shirt.

"That's right," she confirmed with a grin.

"Huh. Well, I'll blame it on you for being so insatiable."

"I could blame it on you for being so irresistible," she countered.

Always the lawyer.

"Yeah, but see, no one would believe you."

"Lupo…" she argued, but I cut her off with a kiss.

"I've got to run. Good luck in court today. I'll drop Ben off after lunch so he can watch you steamroll the defense. If I've got time, I'll stick around, too. Something about watching you spout off objections that makes me hot."

She laughed at me and waved me off, so I slipped out of the bathroom and through the bedroom out into the hall.

"It's about damn time," Ben grumbled.

"I'm the one going to work," I argued, although I was in too good of a mood to put any heat into it. "You're just riding along, remember?"

"Yeah, but I think today's going to be the day. We need to catch the wife in a lie and then nail her ass to the wall."

"Nail her ass to the wall?" I repeated in amusement. I grabbed my coat and together we left the apartment. "You know that cops don't really talk like that, right?"

We got out onto the sidewalk and I pulled up short.

Because waiting for us in front of the building was Allison Sundberg.

"Mrs. Sundberg?" I questioned as she approached.

I kept myself between her and Ben because I honestly had no idea what to expect from her.

She'd tracked me down at my home?

"Detective Lupo," she said on a choked sob, and then she threw herself into my arms. "You have to help me. Armando killed Richard and now I think he's trying to kill me, too!"

TBC...


	17. Chapter 17

**Alex POV**

* * *

"I know you're not here to poach another one of my cases."

"Another one?" I asked Van Buren as we followed her into her office. "Um…we just got back two days ago, and I don't think our case started anywhere but with us."

"I don't mean you specifically," the lieutenant replied. She sat down behind her desk and motioned for me and Bobby to sit down. "Major Case."

"I'm not aware of any other cases, but…"

"Detectives Lupo and Bernard," she supplied. "Does the chief know that you're here?"

Lupo and Bernard?

I didn't even know what they were working on. I'd barely seen them all week.

"No," Bobby admitted. "And we're not even sure if we want your case or not. But we're working on a murder that seems to have crossed paths with one of your current investigations."

"Who is it?"

And while she may have sounded annoyed and territorial, her demeanor was casual as she looked at her computer.

"Joshua Sabin," I answered. "He reported his car stolen two weeks ago, and then last week he was murdered. We think the car might match up to one that was witnessed following our murder victim from Sunday night."

"Joshua Sabin," she repeated under her breath as she looked over the records. Then she smirked and said, "Oh yeah. Okay. I'll let you do the honors of taking over the case file."

"Why?" I asked her suspiciously.

But she only smiled wider and pointed through the window.

"Here comes the detective in question now."

I turned around to see Sean walking through the squad room. I rolled my eyes and looked at Bobby as Van Buren got up and opened her door.

"Detective Eames!" she called out. "My office."

"He's going to be ticked," I muttered to Bobby. Sean had only been at the 2-7 for a little over a week, so this was more than likely his first case.

"It's not your fault," Bobby replied.

"Yeah, but he's going to lose his first case to his big sister? The guys here will never let him live that down."

"Maybe we should be more sure before we take it," he suggested.

"Where's your partner, Detective?" Van Buren asked Sean.

"She's coming," he promised. "What's up, Loo?"

Then I watched him as he stopped in the doorway, looking past his boss to make eye contact with me.

"Alex?"

"Hi, Sean."

He glanced at Bobby and then back to me before settling his gaze on Van Buren.

"They want my case," he stated as he shook his head.

"We're all on the same team, Detective," she reminded him. "It looks like maybe your murder ties into one of theirs."

"So give me their case," he asserted boldly.

And I have to admit it. I love his spirit.

He sounded exactly like me.

"Detective," Van Buren said in a way that was both motherly and amused. "Settle down. Come on in and sit down. We'll discuss the details when Detective Hayes gets here."

I hadn't heard too much about Sean's new partner. Apparently she was new to the department, too, having moved over from Vice.

But I did know that Alicia wasn't thrilled about her husband being partnered with a woman.

"It's just asking for trouble," she'd told me on the phone when she first heard the news.

"That's not true," I assured her.

"How can you say that, Alex? You married your partner. Your friends, Mike and Carolyn, they were partners."

"We're the exceptions, not the rule," I'd said. "And none of us were attached when we became partners. Sean loves you. You have nothing to worry about."

But when I saw a woman walk into the squad room and Van Buren made a move toward the doorway, I could suddenly understand my sister-in-law's concern.

And I don't mean that as any kind of shot against Sean. He loves his wife, and I was pretty sure that he was faithful.

But this woman was absolutely gorgeous. Not like beauty pageant beautiful, but like she'd stepped off the pages of an outdoor living magazine. She looked tough and competent.

"Hayes, come and join us," Van Buren called to her. She changed directions and joined us in the office.

"Lauren Hayes, these are Detectives Robert Goren and Alex Goren from Major Case."

"Alex Goren," Hayes said with a smile as she held out her hand. "You're Eames' sister."

"That's right. Nice meeting you."

"They want the Sabin case," Sean said sullenly.

"We might want the Sabin case," I corrected. "It may tie into a murder that we're working."

"So give us your murder," Hayes said with a smile.

Cocky and confident, just like Sean.

I liked her immediately.

Van Buren chuckled and shook her head before taking her seat behind her desk again.

"I'm not going to have a pissing contest in my office, so let's just go ahead and sort this out now, okay? What've you got, Goren?"

She looked at both of us, so I decided that she didn't care which one of us responded.

I let Bobby get us started.

"Our victim was reportedly being followed by a man in a red Mercedes. We have pictures that the victim took before he was killed. So far we haven't been able to match up the car, but we ran the report this morning on stolen vehicles matching the description and we got a hit on Joshua Sabin. Then of course, we found out that he'd been murdered."

"We'd like to see the coroner's report and see if the cause of death matches up to ours," I concluded.

"That's pretty shaky," Sean said. "How many red Mercedes are there in the city?"

"Plenty," I agreed. "But when one is stolen from a murder victim and then seen outside the home of another murder victim, it seems suspicious to me."

"Maybe you're a little paranoid," he retorted.

"Detective," Van Buren admonished. "There's no harm in sharing the report. Like I said, we're all on the same team."

"I'll get it," Hayes agreed, and then she got up and left the office.

I watched Sean to get a feel for his rapport with his new partner.

I gave him points for not watching her walk away, something I can't say for the other men in the squad room.

Other than Bobby, I mean. He began wandering around Van Buren's office, straightening the photos on her desk and realigning the books on her shelf.

I also had to credit Sean for not getting annoyed at Hayes for wanting to help.

He seemed to respect her opinion and even if he didn't agree, he didn't argue with her in front of others. Another coveted quality in the makings of a good partner.

"What's your COD?" he asked me while we waited for Hayes to return.

"Multiple stab wounds to the back," Bobby supplied.

Sean nodded begrudgingly.

"Yeah, okay. Sabin only had two wounds, but they were to the back. So far, the ME hasn't determined the likely murder weapon."

"Ours is suggesting a pry axe," I told him.

"Like a firefighter would use?"

"Exactly like that."

I hadn't told him that Kevin had found the body. In fact, I hadn't even mentioned Dominick's name. I wasn't sure if he knew him or not, so now was as good a time as any to find out.

"Do you know Dominick Eckhart?" I asked him.

"Um…the name rings a bell maybe," he said thoughtfully. "That's your vic?"

"Yeah. Fireman out of Ladder 6."

"Kevin."

"Uh huh."

"Shit," he muttered. "Is he okay?"

I nodded as Hayes came back in the room.

"This is all we have so far," she said as she handed me the report. "Me and Eames canvassed the neighborhood but there are no witnesses. Sabin's sister said that he told her he thought he was being followed."

That got our attention.

"Like a stalker?" Bobby asked her.

"That's what she said, but she wasn't sure."

"How long had that been going on?"

"The sister said that he'd said something the week before. Like a few days before his car was stolen."

"Did she know if he got a glimpse of the guy following him? Or of the car?" I asked.

"We asked her," Sean said. "But she didn't know. He never described the guy to her or anything."

"Was he into drugs?" Bobby asked.

"Sabin? Not that we've found. Why? Was your guy?"

"Yeah," I told him pointedly.

I was going to have to come clean with Sean about Kevin's involvement in the case.

I'd had no way of knowing that he would be the one assigned to this case, but since he was, well…he was going to find out.

Even if we took it, I was sure that he'd access the system later to find the outcome.

That's part of what would make him a good detective.

He was curious and needed to find out the answers to things. He would never just take someone's word.

So I had no doubt that sooner or later he'd get the whole scoop on how Kevin pertained to the Eckhart murder.

I'd have to give Kevin a heads-up on that.

Of course, Sean would keep it under wraps, too.

It just seemed that it was Kevin's turn to be the object of an Eames family secret.

_Or my dad's_.

Because he was up to something, too…

"What did this Sabin guy do for a living?" Van Buren spoke up, interrupting my rambling thoughts.

"He was a teacher," Sean said. "Woodlawn Academy."

I scanned down through the information that they'd compiled, impressed with their work.

I hated to take it from them, but the two murders had to be related.

"This says your victim was fifty-three," I commented as I flipped through the pages.

"That's right," Hayes agreed.

"And he was a teacher for twelve years."

"Uh huh."

"So what did he do before that?"

Sean and Hayes looked at each other, and then he said, "I don't know."

"Give me that social, Alex," Van Buren said to me. I read off the digits and waited while she punched a few keys on her computer.

"Joshua M. Sabin," she murmured. "Loyal employee of the FDNY for twenty years until an injury forced him into retirement."

"Ladder 6?" I asked.

"No, Ladder 4," she corrected. "But this record is only showing where he was at retirement. You'll have to ask around and find out about before then. I'm sure the Fire Chief can give you Sabin's employment record."

"Either way, now we have two dead firemen," Bobby said.

"I'm sorry, Detectives," Van Buren said to Sean and Hayes. "I've got to let this go to Major Case."

"Loo," Sean argued.

"You two will be up next," she told him. "This in no way reflects poorly on your investigative skills."

I caught Bobby's eye and didn't have to say a word.

"Actually, Lieutenant," I began. "We don't mind making this a joint effort. Unless you have an objection, of course."

"You guys want to baby sit the rookies?" she asked disbelievingly.

"There might be a lot of legwork," Bobby explained. "We could use the help."

"Okay," she agreed with a dismissive wave. "Hayes, Eames – you two report to the Gorens until this case is solved. This might make or break you so I'd be on your best behavior if I were you."

"Yes ma'am," Hayes replied quickly, barely able to contain her smile. Sean looked at me cautiously.

"Alex, you don't have to do this. I know how these things work. Just because I don't like it…"

"That's Detective Goren, to you," I replied with a smirk. "Get your stuff and let's go. We've got work to do."

TBC...


	18. Chapter 18

**Bernard POV**

* * *

I stood out on the sidewalk and waited for Lupo to pick me up.

I usually took the subway, but we didn't plan on going in to 1PP this morning.

Instead we were going to pick up Allison Sundberg and have a chat with her.

We both liked her as our murder suspect since the timely death of her husband had led to her becoming a millionaire as opposed to being the broke ex-wife of a millionaire.

The hard part was proving it.

Aside from motive, we didn't have much to go on. The excessive heat in the townhouse, combined with the time frame that Johnny had provided didn't do much to help us nail down a sequence of events.

I checked my watch.

Lupo was now officially late.

He'd never been late before Connie.

In fact, he had been routinely early and then he'd always be the one to stay late.

And that's not to say that he didn't still get the job done.

As partners went, he was top-notch.

But he definitely now had a life _outside_ of the job.

I supposed I couldn't hold that against him simply because I _didn't_ have a life outside of the job.

Janelle had made me leery of women.

Except for women like Kim anyway.

There'd been no hope of anything deep or meaningful with Kim, but at least she had been honest and upfront about it.

And I didn't think I was interested in anything like that right now anyway.

Aside from the fact that Lupo was getting regular sex, I wasn't sure if there was an upside to being in a relationship.

Okay, now that's a lie.

There was companionship…support…_fun_.

_Of course, there was also checking in and chick movies and in-law obligations_, I reminded myself.

And speaking of in-law obligations…

Lupo pulled over alongside the curb and Ben got out of the car.

He seemed like a nice enough guy, but I knew that Lupes had been sweating bullets over whether or not Ben would give him the nod.

Which I thought was kind of silly because Connie was crazy about him so I couldn't see her tossing him out just on Ben's say-so, but still…Lupo wanted to make a good impression.

Which was probably why we had him riding along with us again today.

"Hey, Bernard," Ben greeted enthusiastically as he moved to open the back door. I assumed that it was Johnny who was already sitting in the back but as I went to get into the front, I saw that it was actually Allison Sundberg.

"Why do I feel like we're in a carpool?" I asked Lupo as I buckled my seatbelt. "And you went to pick up our suspect before getting me?"

"Hey, I'm not a suspect," the woman argued. "I'm giving you your murderer on a freaking silver platter."

"Whatever you say, sugar," I said over my shoulder, then I leaned closer to my partner. "What the hell is going on here?"

"She showed up at my house," he whispered harshly. "She says the boyfriend did it, and that now he's after her."

I looked skeptically at the woman in the back.

"Did you ask her how she got your address?"

Aside from the supposed finger-pointing, I really didn't like the idea that she'd just shown up at his place. There was a reason why our addresses are unlisted.

"Not yet," he said. "But we can't pick up Johnny with her in the car. I don't want the two of them in such close proximity."

I nodded at him as I pulled out my phone.

"Did you read her her rights?" I asked him.

Because I didn't want to start questioning her, even about something like Lupo's address, without having that established.

Because you just never knew when someone was going to blurt out some kind of incriminating statement.

"My rights?" she yelled from the backseat. "I didn't _do_ anything."

"It's okay," Ben told her. "They have to do that before they can talk to you. It's procedure."

I sat back in my seat and rolled my eyes.

Great. We had the teacher from Miami instructing our black widow on police procedure.

"Oh," she replied to Ben. "Okay, go ahead."

Huh. Maybe his non-threatening approach wasn't such a bad thing.

So Lupo drove the car and recited Allison her Miranda rights while I placed a call to Johnny Eames.

"Meet us at 1PP," I told him when he answered.

"Where are you guys? Lupo said he'd pick me up."

"Change of plans."

"I can't go to 1PP."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to run into Alex."

"I thought you were _her_ father," I said, only halfway teasing. "Man up, Johnny."

"Man up?" he repeated and then he sighed heavily. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Fine. I'll meet you guys there."

I hung up the phone and turned in my seat.

"So tell me," I began to Allison. "How did you get my partner's address? Because you know, that's really not cool. And if you lie to me, I'm going to charge you with stalking."

"Stalking? I came to him for help!"

"Uh huh. And you know he works at One Police Plaza. He gave you his business card yesterday. You could've gone there, but instead you chose to look for him at home."

"I didn't try to go in or anything," she continued. "I was just waiting for him to come out."

"Okay. So how did you get the address?" I asked.

I raised my voice this time because I was getting tired of her hedging. And I wanted to get this out of the way so that we could move on to the murder.

She looked to Ben for support, but I knew that she wasn't going to get it from him this time.

"I…I…I called the department."

"And they just gave it to you?" I questioned. "Remember what I said about that stalking charge?"

"I'm serious," she asserted. And then she leaned back in her seat, seeming somewhat deflated. "Except I said that I was his mom."

"His mother?"

"Yeah. I pretended to be a little freaked out because I'd misplaced his address and his birthday was coming up."

I stared at her a moment longer and then turned back around in my seat.

"That's too stupid to be a lie," I said quietly. "I'm going to have a talk with the desk sergeant."

Lupo stayed quiet and I couldn't tell for sure if it was because he was mad or because the mention of his mom had upset him.

What Allison didn't know was that his birthday _was_ coming up in a few weeks, only his mom wasn't around anymore to send him anything.

And yeah, it had been a long time since she passed, but still...the whole thing really pissed me off.

We got to the parking garage and went into the elevator.

"You guys are going to protect me, right?" Allison asked, directing her question specifically to Lupo.

"For right now, we're going to take you upstairs and go over your statement," he replied calmly as he side stepped away from his apparent admirer.

"That sounds kind of scary," she said. "You're going to be with me, right?"

"Me and Detective Bernard will take your statement. After that, we'll determine the best course of action."

"I have a stop to make first," I told him, punching the button for the main lobby. "I'll meet you guys upstairs."

The doors opened almost immediately and I stepped off, making a beeline for the desk sergeant.

He was chatting with another officer, but I stepped up to the counter and slammed my hands down on the surface, because the more I'd thought about it, the madder I got.

"Did you take a call this morning concerning my partner?"

"Detective Lupo?" he questioned. "I…um…yeah."

"And you gave out his _home address_?" I shouted.

"It was his mom," he argued.

"And you know this how?"

"Because…she…she…"

"Because she said she was? Well, that's just great. Anyone can call in anytime and as long as they have a good story, you'll just hand over the keys to the store, right?"

"Relax, Bernard," he yelled back. "What the hell are you so upset about?"

"It was a murder suspect! She showed up at his house!"

"Is he…alright?"

"It doesn't matter if he's alright," I said in disgust. "The point is that you don't give out personal information on anyone who works here. I don't care if the caller says he's the goddamn Chief of D's…"

"What's going on here, Detective?"

I turned to find Ross standing a few feet behind me.

"Chief," I acknowledged, and then the desk sergeant interrupted me.

"Bernard here thinks it's his right to admonish me for how I do my job."

"Chief, he gave out my partner's home address."

Ross held my gaze for a moment and then looked at the desk sergeant.

"You gave out personal information over the phone?" Ross clarified.

"Chief, it was…she said she was his mother."

"You're lucky Detective Bernard was only verbally reprimanding you," he stated. "Personally, I would've kicked your ass. Clock out and report to my office immediately."

"But sir…"

"We can do it right here in the lobby, if that's how you want to handle it," he warned. "But I thought you'd prefer some privacy."

"Yes, sir," the sergeant conceded. Ross looked around at the crowd that had gathered in the lobby.

"Get back to work," he instructed. Then he pulled out his cell phone and made a call. "Get me someone down here to cover O'Grady's shift."

He shoved his phone back in his pocket and then tipped his head toward the elevator.

"Come on," he said. We got on together as I worked to get my temper under control. "Is Lupo okay?"

"He's fine, Cap. I mean…Chief. Sorry."

"No problem," he said. "I'm glad you called him out on that. I'm not going to deal with any more leaks from this department. Although maybe next time you can give me a heads-up first."

"Yes sir. I'm sorry about that. I let my anger get to me."

"You were being protective of your partner," he reasoned. "I'm not going to fault you for that. So what have you two got? Are you still handling this thing with Johnny Eames?"

I nodded at him as the elevator opened up on eleven. He held his hand over the door to keep it open as we finished our conversation.

"The suspect showed up at Lupes' place this morning. She's trying to pin the murder on her lover. We're going to get her statement now."

"What do you think?"

"I'm not sure yet. But my gut says she's lying. She's been coming on to Lupo, trying to play the innocent female card. She wouldn't be pulling that out if she didn't have something to hide."

"You two still have Connie's brother riding along?"

"Uh huh," I said with a small smile. "Although he's not too bad."

"And Johnny?" Ross asked with a smirk.

"He's meeting us here. We didn't want him and the widow in the car together."

"Good idea. Okay, keep me in the loop."

"Sure thing, Chief. And hey, thanks for the back-up downstairs."

I left Ross and went into the squad room.

The Gorens were nowhere to be found, so I figured that Johnny would be happy about that.

The Logans were AWOL, too, but I knew that they'd been banging their heads against the wall with their floater case.

They were probably back down at the morgue, bugging the Doc to find them something to go on.

Cases like that, sometimes that was all you could do.

I went into the observation room where Lupo and Ben stood in front of the window that looked into the interrogation room.

"Are you ready, Lupes?" I asked him as I glanced through the glass. Allison was sitting at the table, looking anything but worried.

"She's a cool customer," he replied. "What do you think?"

"I think she's guilty as hell," I told him. "So let's see if we can get her to admit it."

"Thanks for handling that desk sergeant thing," Lupo said quietly. "I was so pissed off that I'm not sure what I would've done. Probably gotten myself suspended."

"Well, I think that's what he's going to get," I replied with a shrug. "At the very least. Ross was down there and he was fit to be tied."

"They take good care of you guys, huh?" Ben asked. "I mean, to make sure that you're protected when you're off the job."

"As best they can," Lupo said. "Something as basic as offering up an address...that's unforgivable."

"Do we want to wait for Johnny?" I asked.

"Nah, let's get started. I have a feeling this is going to take awhile."

So we went into the interrogation room.

"What took you guys so long?" she asked. "I didn't know that I was going to spend my whole day in here. You know, I've got things to do."

"Like plan a funeral?" I asked her.

"I have a pedi scheduled at eleven," she informed me petulantly.

"I think you're going got have to reschedule," Lupo told her.

"First order of business," I stated firmly as I sat down across from her. "There is a restraining order filed against you which prevents you from coming within a thousand yards of Detective Lupo's home. Are you clear about that? If you violate, I will arrest you and put you in jail, no questions asked."

What can I say? I'm a detective. I'm allowed to lie to criminals.

And she wasn't smart enough to know the difference.

"Yeah, sure. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that _this_ is where we work. If you want to talk to one of us, you come _here_."

"Sure. Whatever."

"So tell us what you know, Allison. You said your boyfriend Armando killed your husband. How do you know?"

"Because he sort of told me."

"Is that your version of pillow talk?" I asked her.

"Are you being a smart ass?"

"If you have to ask…"

"Look, Armando was jealous of Richard. He wanted me to leave him, okay? I told him that wasn't going to happen. And then Richard turns up dead, so what was I supposed to think, right?"

"Yeah, but he turned up dead after you learned from Mr. Eames that there was proof of your affair. You knew that you were days away from being the next ex-Mrs. Sundberg, and thanks to the terms of your pre-nup, you'd leave the marriage with what you brought into it, which according to our records…" Lupo paused as he opened a file folder. "Is jack shit. You were a flat-broke coat-check girl at the Fluffy Bunny Club."

"But I didn't do it," she argued. "Why would I?"

I glanced at Lupo and we shared a confused look.

"I think I just explained why you would," he said. "You were boffing a young stud while spending your husband's money and suddenly the gravy train was going to end. The only way for you to come out of this thing on your feet was for Richard to end up dead. Which, conveniently, he did."

"So there's your motive, sugar," I finished. "What would Armando's motive be? Just so that he could have you? Because I've seen Mr. Eames' pictures, and I'm pretty sure that he was already having you."

"You guys aren't listening to me," she complained. "I didn't know about the pictures until I went to see Mr. Eames."

"Right. And then you went home and killed him."

"No," she insisted. "I went home and he was already dead."

TBC...


	19. Chapter 19

**Logan POV**

* * *

Carolyn and I started Wednesday in the morgue.

Mostly because we didn't know what else to do with this damn floater case.

I hated that we were stuck on day three of our first case back, but sometimes that's the way it worked.

So we went back to see Liz in hopes that maybe she'd matched up something to someone somewhere.

But before we got to the autopsy suite, we bumped into Andrew. He was carrying two cups of coffee.

"How'd you know we were coming down here?" I asked him as I took a cup from his hand. I turned to Carolyn and added, "You know, most detectives hate the morgue, but personally, I don't think you can beat the hospitality."

"Thanks, Andrew," Carolyn said as she relieved him of the other cup. He was too shocked to argue. "I know what you mean, Mike. Everyone's so friendly. Why, just the other day, I saw Andrew here bringing lunch to Dr. Rodgers. That was awfully sweet of you, Andrew."

"Well, I just…you know, wanted to make sure that she had time to eat. She's always so busy."

"I know," I agreed with a serious nod. "Her husband stays pretty busy, too. I guess the crime in this city is good for job security if nothing else, don't you think? And you know, when I told Chief Ross how attentive you were being to his wife, he seemed very appreciative. In fact, you may even have a promotion in the works."

"You told…um…a promotion?"

"Well, it's not like you're under his supervision," Carolyn continued. "But he and the Chief ME are friends, so I'm sure if Ross puts in a good word, well…it'll only be a matter of time."

I gave Andrew a broad smile and then took a sip of the coffee.

"Yeah, okay, well…I'd better get to the um…the um…"

"Lab?" Carolyn suggested.

"Yeah. The lab."

He hustled off in the opposite direction and Carolyn bit back a chuckle.

"That was a little over the top, don't you think?" she asked me.

"Guys have to stick together," I told her. "And if some young buck is trying to make his way into the herd…"

"Mike," she said, shaking her head. "Quit while you're ahead, okay? You did a nice thing, reminding Andrew who Liz's husband is. You probably shouldn't ruin it by spouting off territorial drivel."

"Drivel?" I asked, barking out a laugh. "I bet Ross will appreciate my effort. No man wants his wife hit on by someone younger and better looking. Especially when the two of them are having trouble anyway."

"I know," she agreed. "Although hopefully they're heading in the right direction now."

Carolyn had told me last night that she'd thought their evening had gone well. Liz had fought them at first, of course, but then she'd opened up a little bit, so at least that was progress.

We went into the autopsy suite and found Liz standing next to a table along the far wall.

"Detectives," she greeted us, and today she had a smile on her face. "I was expecting Andrew. I don't suppose you happened to run into him. He went to get coffee."

"Here, you can have mine," Carolyn offered. "I've probably had enough caffeine already today."

"You? That's unusual."

"For some reason, I had a little bit of a hangover," Carolyn admitted on a laugh.

"Yeah, well that's why I sent Andrew out for another cup," Liz said as she took the cup from Carolyn. "This makes three so far, and I'm going to blame it on you and Alex and those damn kamikazes."

"But we had fun, didn't we?"

"We did," Liz said with a nod. "So, I'm guessing you're here as a last ditch effort to find out something about your John Doe."

"Guilty as charged," I said. "We've got nothing, so I'm about ready to toss it on the back burner unless you can pull a rabbit out of your hat."

"Well, abracadabra," she replied as she handed me a printout. "I was getting ready to call Alex, but since you're here…I still don't know who your guy is, but his DNA was found on Dominick Eckhart."

"The Gorens' firefighter?" Carolyn asked her.

"Uh huh. And guess _where_ I found it," she said.

"If you tell me on his…" I began, but I trailed off and waved my hand noncommittally, hoping they would fill in the blanks.

"No, Detective," she said quickly. Then she laughed and shook her head. "But I love the way your mind works. Anyway, it was in the wounds."

"So you're telling us that the same weapon used to kill Eckhart was also used on the John Doe?" Carolyn clarified.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. There was trace blood and tissue buried in the wounds of Eckhart. Knowing what I know about your floater, I'd say that the killer used the pry axe to cut off John Doe's fingers and then he killed Eckhart."

"Doc, you've made my day," I told her as Carolyn and I turned to leave.

"The information? That's my job."

"Nope," I told her with a grin. "Just by seeing you smile."

She ducked her head, but I saw her smile get bigger.

"Go flirt with someone else, Detective," she said, shooing us out of the room.

So we left the morgue and went back to 1PP.

Lupo and Bernard's desks were empty, but Alex and Bobby were at theirs. And Sean was standing behind Alex, along with a woman I didn't recognize.

"I guess my invitation got lost in the mail," I said as I tossed my coat on the back of my chair. "What's with the party?"

I shook Sean's hand and waited for an introduction to whom I could only assume was his partner.

"Case overlap," Alex stated. "Detective Lauren Hayes, meet Detectives Mike Logan and Carolyn Logan."

"You get to work with the green shield, huh?" I asked Hayes, rolling my eyes toward Sean as I shook her hand.

Of course, I think the world of Sean. But since he's Alex's little brother, he's fair game for teasing.

"Yes," she said with a sardonic smile. "And I'm a green shield, too, so go ahead and get your jokes out of the way."

"Defending your partner already," I replied. "I think I like you. So what's this case overlap? Because we've got a little bit of it, too."

"What is it?" Bobby asked me.

"We just got back from the morgue," Carolyn told him. "Our guy's DNA was in your guy's wounds."

"So the same weapon killed them both? Who's your guy?" Sean asked.

"We've got a John Doe floater," I told him. "And it wasn't our murder weapon. The killer chopped off his fingers."

"After he broke his neck," Carolyn added.

"So he killed two men with an axe and one with his bare hands?" Hayes questioned. "I know I'm the newbie here, but that doesn't seem to fit the mold, does it?"

"No, it doesn't," Bobby said.

"Nope," I agreed. "But DNA doesn't lie. And since you guys got the first call…"

I picked up the file folder that Carolyn and I had amassed on our John Doe and tossed it onto Alex's desk.

"It's yours now," I finished. "Have fun."

"See?" Alex said to Sean. "That's how you act when another detective wants to take over your case."

"Why, what did he do?" I asked with a grin. "Sean, did you pout?"

"I did not," he insisted, but he couldn't stop from laughing. "Okay, I may have gotten a little indignant."

"A little?" Alex questioned.

"Hey, we've put more than a week into this investigation already."

"Yeah, well we put a little more than two days," Carolyn said. "And I am more than happy to hand it off."

"Have you guys talked to Ross?" I asked Bobby.

"Not yet."

"I'm going to give him a call. I'll let him know about our convergence of cases."

Carolyn and I went back to our desks where I pulled out my cell phone and made the call to Ross.

"We handed it off to the Gorens," I told him after I explained the latest developments. "And they're working with a couple of detectives out of the 2-7."

"Anyone I know?"

"Yeah, Sean Eames and his partner...um...Hayes. I'm sure they can fill you in on what they've got, but apparently their killer is not new to the business."

"Okay, well, I'll put you and Carolyn back into the rotation."

"Hey, what are Lupo and Bernard up to? I haven't seen them around lately."

"High society murder," he said. "Although they should be at 1PP. I ran into Bernard this morning. They're probably in interrogation."

"Maybe I'll see if they need any help," I suggested. "I mean, until you get another one for us."

"They've got Connie's brother and Alex's dad riding shotgun already," he told me. "I'm not sure how much help they can stand."

"Johnny's working with them?"

"Um…yeah," he said slowly. "And you know, I honestly can't remember if you're supposed to know that, so maybe…you know."

"I hear you, Chief," I said. I wasn't going to get him in trouble for having a slip of the tongue. "On a personal note, I saw your wife this morning. She's looking better."

"She's getting there," he agreed. Then he sighed heavily and was quiet for a moment.

"What about you?" I asked when he didn't say anything further.

"I'm fine," he said quickly.

"You want my advice?"

"Do I have a choice?" he asked, and I was glad to hear him chuckle lightly.

"Take her somewhere. Just the two of you."

"Like on a vacation?"

"Yeah. And I know the timing's bad for you, but what's more important, boss?"

"Where should we go? I mean, you're not suggesting like where you and Carolyn went."

"The nude beach?" I asked, and I realized my voice was a little too loud when Alex whipped her head around to look at me.

So did Bobby.

And Sean.

I waved them off and turned my back to them, lowering my voice.

"Anywhere," I asserted. "It doesn't matter where just so long as you two get some time alone. The talking will come naturally."

It felt weird giving Ross marital advice, but I'd pretty much been where he was and I truly considered him a friend. Not only that, but I loved Liz and I hated seeing her out of sorts.

"Okay," he said thoughtfully. "Thanks, Mike."

I hung up with Ross and found Carolyn looking at me intently.

"Nude beach?" she questioned.

"I told Ross to take Liz somewhere," I explained. At her raised eyebrow, I added, "Not there."

"I don't know. She'd probably like it."

"Do me a favor, sweetheart," I said as I got up from my desk and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Don't even insinuate the words Ross and nude beach in the same sentence around me again, okay? Not unless you put the words _never gonna go_ in between them."

She laughed and got up from her desk.

"So where are we going?"

"Chief says we can offer help to Lupo and Bernard if they need it."

"Dad?" I heard Alex say loudly. I looked across the squad room and saw Johnny standing at the edge of the room. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," he replied. "Why wouldn't it be?"

I bit back a smile at his over-zealous denial of trouble. That, combined with Ross' comment earlier, led me to believe that things were anything but fine.

"Why are you here?" she asked him as he made his way across the room.

"Business," he deflected. "Sean, what are you doing here?"

"Apparently it's an Eames family reunion."

This last comment came from Kevin.

He'd just come off the elevator. He must have missed Johnny by only a minute when they'd entered the building.

As much as I wanted to go see if Lupo and Bernard needed my help, I really wanted to stay and watch the show.

"Kevin?" Johnny asked.

"I think we've established that we all know each other," Alex said in annoyance. "What business, Dad?"

"With Lupo and Bernard," he stated. Then he turned to Kevin, "Why are you here?"

"Um…I have something to discuss with Alex and Bobby."

"Well, me and Hayes are working the case with them," Sean said firmly. "So whatever you have to say is for all of us."

"You're involved with one of their cases?" Johnny questioned. "They're working a homicide. What could you possibly have to do with that?"

"I found the body, Dad. And I knew the victim. Both of them."

"You knew Joshua Sabin?" Sean asked.

"Who is that?" Kevin questioned.

"The other victim. Who are you talking about?"

"Johnson."

"The floater John Doe," I clarified, although my jumping into the conversation earned me an elbow chuck from my wife and a scowl from Bobby.

"Wait," Alex said. "Everybody just shut up for a minute. Kevin, what's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to you and Bobby," he said pointedly. "But I guess it's all common knowledge now. So…I think that maybe I'm next."

"You're next for what?" Johnny asked.

But I had a pretty good feeling that I knew what he meant.

"Why?" Bobby asked him, his face filled with concern.

"Well, I told Kendra," he said vaguely, limiting his gaze to just Alex and Bobby. "Everything, okay? Just like you said I should do. And…well, so last night I was on the couch when I saw headlights. I looked out the window, and there it was."

"There was what?" Sean asked him.

He didn't answer, but Alex did it for him.

"The red Mercedes."

TBC...


	20. Chapter 20

**Kevin Eames POV**

* * *

Last year at this time, my life was great.

Hell, six months ago even. But that was when I met Dom.

And it was like a perfect storm.

Because the week before he showed up at the fire station, I hit forty-five.

And I'd been married for twenty-two years.

I had four kids.

I worked at least sixty-five hours a week.

And I absolutely never did anything that I shouldn't.

I mean never.

Not when I was in high school or in any of the years since.

And then suddenly this outrageous guy showed up who had no commitments, no responsibilities, and a sense of adventure that made me jealous.

He wanted to _do_ all of these things, things that I never did because I always weighed consequences.

And the really funny thing was that we hit it off right away.

He was twenty years younger than me, young enough to be my son, and yet we bonded on that first day.

We got a call to a fire and together we suited up and got on the truck and then hit the ground running.

He'd followed me into a hot zone without question or hesitation.

And when we got back to the fire house, all of us dirty and exhausted, he just grinned at me and said, "Damn, when do we get to do that again?"

That night, or morning rather but it was the end of the shift, we'd gone for a beer. I watched in amazement as three women came onto him before our drinks were served.

And this was at eleven o'clock in the morning.

"This is my buddy, Kevin," he'd said, introducing the girls to me.

And how did I respond?

I'd panicked. Immediately.

"I'm married," I said quickly.

"That's too bad," one of the girls had said, and then she'd moved closer to me, pressing her chest up against my arm. "For _her_. Because it looks like I'm the one you're with right now."

Yeah, they were firefighter groupies.

Every risk-taking job had them.

But I'd been a fireman for a long time and I'd managed to avoid them so far.

I'd also stayed married for twenty-two years because I was faithful to my wife.

So I'd extricated myself from the girl's grip and said goodbye to Dom.

The next shift, he'd come in with a grin on his face.

"You should've stayed, man."

"So that I could be divorced? I don't think so."

"She was into you. Or…she was. Then later, she was into me. So were the other two."

"You had all three of them?" I asked disbelievingly. I mean, I wasn't a prude or anything, but I found it hard to believe in this day and age that there were still women like that.

"And I've got the pictures to prove it," he told me.

And thus began my vicarious living through Dom.

Every couple of weeks, he'd bring in pictures of his conquests and he'd tell the tales.

And I had to be careful because I was walking a dangerous line.

I suddenly found myself wanting to be him.

I wanted to be that guy with no mortgage and no responsibilities.

I mean, I love my wife. I've loved her since the first time I saw her when we were thirteen years old.

But I've never been with another woman.

Ever.

And I guess what was happening to me was a classic mid-life crisis.

I can maybe see that.

_Now_.

One day, when I'd known Dom for a few months, I stopped by his place after shift.

He'd called in sick.

When I got there, I ran into a guy who was on his way out.

Johnson.

"Hey, Kev," Dom said with a smile on his face. "Good timing. I'll hook you up."

"Hook me up?"

And okay, I'll admit that I was naïve. At first, I didn't know what in the hell he was talking about.

"Aunt Nora," he stated. "Dream. Foo-foo dust."

"What?"

"Blow," he said pointedly. "You know, the Peruvian lady?"

"Are you talking about cocaine?"

"Oh my God," he said on a laugh. "You've never done it."

"No," I answered quickly. "You do that shit?"

"I can't believe you don't, man. You've got four kids and a wife to keep happy after all that time you put in at the fire house. How do you do it?"

I didn't have an answer.

He barked out another laugh and said, "Or maybe you're _not _keeping your wife happy. Maybe she's got a little something-something on the side."

Two things happened after he suggested that Kendra was fooling around on me.

Because, see, I do have a quick temper.

So first off, I punched him.

Square in the nose.

He continued to laugh, even as he grabbed a towel and held it over his face to catch the blood.

Then with his other hand, he gave me a rolled up twenty dollar bill.

"Try it," he said. "Then go home and make nice with the old lady. You won't have to worry about her looking anywhere else."

I almost didn't do it.

Because that little voice in my head, the one that had done a pretty good job of keeping me out of trouble for my entire life, _that _voice said _don't do it_.

I mean, I'd survived my teenaged years which had been cram-packed with peer pressure, mostly because I wanted to be a good role model for Alex and Sean.

Cathy, too, but she was a lot younger. Or at least, she'd seemed that way at the time. Anyway, she had her own friends.

Alex liked to tag along with me, and I knew that Sean looked up to me.

So if I'd done things…if I'd had a beer or smoked pot or skipped school…any of those kinds of things would've been emulated by at least two of my siblings.

And with them it would've spelled trouble because Alex had a wild streak in her a mile wide.

In fact, she probably still does.

And Sean was always a rebel, too.

So they needed me to help keep them on the straight and narrow.

My dad had always reminded me that I was the oldest and he'd instilled in me the responsibilities that came along with that distinction.

_But who'll know_, I'd asked myself that day in Dom's apartment.

The day that I held the rolled up twenty in my hands as I stood over a six-inch long line of white powder.

And as I stood there, I realized just how exhausted I felt.

If I left now, I'd go home and go to bed.

But if this stuff was as great as Dom said, then maybe I'd have the energy to be a little more involved in my family's lives.

I'd be able to contribute more to the household chores and maybe I would surprise Kendra with an unscheduled night of love-making.

Because what if Dom was right?

_Was_ I keeping her satisfied?

Or was she getting curious?

Was she starting to wonder about other men since she'd only ever been with me?

So I guess that had been my justification. I was going to snort some blow for the good of my family.

For the sake of my marriage.

And I know that it sounds really stupid.

_Now. _

But at the time it almost made sense.

And that was the beginning of the end.

Because that day, I'd done a few lines and then I'd gone home.

The kids were at school and Kendra was at work and I was bouncing off the walls. So I'd cleaned the house, gone grocery shopping, and cooked dinner.

I was starting to come down by the time Kendra got home, so I slipped into the bathroom and did a little more.

Because Dom had given me some to go.

That night after the kids were in bed, I'd done just a little more and then I'd scooped Kendra up off the couch and carried her to the bedroom.

She'd laughed at my antics.

And she'd been in a great mood, pleasantly surprised by all that I'd accomplished.

And then I'd spent the next hour making love to her.

Afterwards, she'd asked what had gotten into me.

"_I just really love you,"_ I'd told her.

"_You just now figured that out?"_ she'd laughed.

"_I've been taking you for granted,"_ I'd said. _"No more, okay?"_

And she'd been so happy.

I'd held her until she fell asleep and then I got up and went to work.

I didn't realize until I clocked in that I hadn't slept a wink since the day before.

The free gram that Dom had given me was gone so then I'd bought another one from him.

And so it went.

Three months later, I had a two-eight-ball a week habit and I was plowing through our savings.

I was routinely walking out on shifts so that I could meet up with Johnson because Dom wasn't always reliable.

Sometimes, I'd give him money and then he wouldn't come back with the blow.

Of course, he always had an excuse and he almost always made it up to me somehow.

He was a likeable guy and I always wanted to forgive him.

He was the only person who knew about that side of my life.

It was almost like we were partners in crime.

Hell, I guess we were.

We were addicts.

A couple of weeks ago, he told me that he thought he was being followed.

I didn't doubt him, because really the possibilities were endless. I mean, Dom had slept with a ridiculous amount of women, many of whom were married.

He also used dealers other than Johnson from time to time, and drug dealers tend to be territorial.

So if I had to come up with a list of who might be following Dom, well…I'd be writing for a long time.

And I probably wouldn't have many names, just descriptions.

The husband of the redhead who was into S & M…the dealer from Chelsea to whom Dom had promised his business…the fiancé of the blonde with the leather fetish…

So while I believed him when he said someone was watching him, I wasn't overly concerned.

Dom carried a .45.

He could handle himself against any jealous man.

And then came Sunday.

When we got off shift, I'd pulled seven hundred dollars from my savings account and I gave him half to buy me an eight.

He'd said that he would bring it to work that night.

When he didn't show, I went looking for him.

That was when I saw Johnson in the alley.

And he was most definitely dead.

But Dom was nowhere to found.

I panicked then, thinking that Dom had killed Johnson, so I went back to his apartment, only this time I used the key and let myself in.

He wasn't there, but I found enough blow to choke a horse.

Had he stolen from Johnson?

It was a possibility. If he'd tried to rip him off and then they got in a fight maybe he'd killed him by accident.

But then where was he?

As I stood in his living room, trying to decide what to do next, Dom came through the door.

He immediately pulled his gun on me, and the hand that held it was shaking.

"What the fuck, man?" I said, my heart pounding hard with adrenaline.

"What are you doing here, Kev?"

"Looking for you! Put that damn thing away before you shoot someone."

"I've gotta get out of here," he told me as he tucked the gun into his jeans.

"Why? What's going on?"

I didn't want to tell him that I'd seen Johnson.

I'll admit it. I was afraid of him.

He was zooming on blow and I watched him as he began pacing back and forth across the room and then he went into the kitchen and pulled out the plate with his stash.

"I've gotta get the fuck out of here," he said again after doing a line. "You should go, too."

"Dom, talk to me. What the hell is going on?"

"Johnson's dead. And when the cops find him, they'll go to his place. You know he keeps track of the shit he sells, right? He writes it all down. He calls it his insurance policy. Me and you…we're going down."

I saw my life flash before my eyes at that moment.

"He writes it down?" was all I could ask.

"I'm telling you," he muttered. "It's over. We're done. No more fire department. And you…" he trailed off and then he started laughing. "Man, you're totally fucked. Your wife will know what you've been doing. Your kids…it'll be on the fucking news, man."

Then he jumped up on the coffee table and started spouting off as if he was a reporter.

"Long-time choir boy and all-around Dudley do-right working for the FDNY was arrested today for cocaine possession after the body of a dealer was found in an alley. The savvy dealer kept an incriminating log book of his sales. Kevin Eames, the former patron saint of all that is good and holy, is now facing divorce proceedings in addition to the drug charges and his children…"

That was as far as he got before I shoved him in the chest, knocking him off the table and onto his ass.

"Shut the fuck up," I yelled. "You just shut the fuck up!"

And yeah, I was completely freaked out.

Mostly, because I knew that he was right.

If this came to light, my life was over.

"Hey, lighten up, Kev," he relied, still laughing as he lay sprawled on the floor. "At least you can tell the little wife that you never screwed around on her. That has to count for something, right? I mean, it's not like you didn't have the opportunity. That hot little bitch at the bar the other night…she wanted you. She was all over you, but you had to keep up that saint bullshit and walk away."

And that was the last time I saw or heard from Dom.

Or at least, the last time I saw him alive.

I'd slammed the door on his drugged-out rant and left his apartment so that I could head back to the firehouse. I'd already been gone too long, and I had no idea what I was going to do next.

I should tell Kendra.

I should call the cops.

I should…do something.

So I finally did. I went back to the alley so that I could say I'd just found the body and then call the cops.

But of course, that was when I'd found Dom and the dealer's body was gone.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, when I'd looked out my window last night and saw that red Mercedes parked across the street…that had totally freaked me out.

Because I hadn't slept with anyone's wife but my own.

And I didn't buy drugs from anyone but Johnson.

So even though the list of who might want to kill Dom was probably long, the list of who might want to kill me shouldn't be.

In fact, it was probably fairly non-existent.

_Aside from Kendra_, I thought wryly.

But it was the exact same car that had been following Dom, so it couldn't be a coincidence.

I'd stared at it for a moment, unable to move, and then I'd grabbed a baseball bat from the closet and run to the front door.

When I opened the door, the car drove away, and it was too dark for me to see the plates.

I finished my story and sat back in my chair, afraid to look at either Alex or Bobby.

I'd come with them into an interrogation room so that I could come clean.

Again.

I knew they were going to be mad that I hadn't told them the whole story before.

But then, I'd still been trying to keep my life together.

Now it was pointless.

Because Kendra knew everything and I could only imagine that she'd already called her lawyer.

Of course, I don't _know_ because she quit talking to me.

I'd spent the last two nights on the couch.

I was on a week's leave from the department due to the investigation.

_At least a week_, my chief had said. He was going to wait and see what happened.

I was pretty sure that once all of the facts were made public, I'd be fired.

I'd actually been on duty while on drugs. What in the hell had I been thinking?

I put my face in my hands and sighed.

"I'm not going to be petty about this and ask why you held out on us," Alex said at last. "But promise me this. This is everything? This is the whole truth as you know it?"

"I swear, Alex. And I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"So you don't know whether Dom killed the dealer or not," Bobby stated.

"He didn't say. I mean, I assumed that he did, but…no, he didn't actually say that. He was just worried about what would happen after Johnson's body was found."

"So do you think that he moved the body?" Alex asked.

"I don't know," I answered, finally looking up to make eye contact.

Then I looked over her shoulder at the glass window behind her.

I knew that Sean was in there.

And my dad.

I'd told them that they could listen. I was done keeping secrets.

Sean's partner had been kind enough to stay out of the room. It was her case, too, but this was also an Eames family crisis.

I knew that she'd be filled in later, but I appreciated that she stayed away for the first-hand accounting.

I wondered if my dad would ever speak to me again.

It almost would've been better if I could see their faces.

_Or maybe it wasn't_, I thought.

I wasn't sure if I could handle their disappointment.

"If Dom hadn't been left in exactly the same spot, then I'd say yeah," I continued. "I would've thought that he tried to hide the body. But, he was. He was in the identical spot. How does that make sense?"

"There's not much about this that makes sense," Bobby said. "You said that you don't know Joshua Sabin. Are you sure, or did you dismiss the name just because that wasn't who you were talking about? Think about it for a minute."

I wracked my brain, wanting to be as helpful as possible since I'd been holding out on them up until now.

"Maybe," I said at last. "I think there's a Mr. Sabin who works with the school. I'm not sure of his first name, though."

"Woodlawn? How would you know that?"

"No, the FDNY school," I corrected. "I'm pretty sure I've seen his signature on the paperwork of new hires."

Alex sat back in her chair and looked over at Bobby. It was a long, significant look and I had no idea what it meant.

"What? Does that help?"

"Maybe," Alex said vaguely. "Why don't you stick around here for a little while? We're going to follow up on a couple of things, but we may need to talk to you some more. And at least here, we know you're safe."

"You can use your phone," Bobby offered. "You're not in custody or anything."

"Thanks," I told him. "But I don't have anyone to call."

"Kendra…"

"She'd probably prefer it if I just ended up in jail."

"I'm sure she wouldn't," Alex said as she got up from the table. She walked around and put her hand on my shoulder, squeezing it in support. "She's just upset right now. Give her some time."

"And you?"

"Am I upset with you?" she asked in surprise.

"Upset. Disappointed. Mad as hell," I suggested.

"I hate that you got into this situation," she said. "But we all make mistakes."

"Some bigger than others," I said with a rueful smile.

"That's true," she agreed. "So it's a good thing that you have a big family to help you out."

TBC...


	21. Chapter 21

**Lupo POV**

* * *

"That woman is a piece of work," I mumbled to Bernard as we left the interrogation room. "She finds her husband dead and she just leaves him there. That's cold."

"Uh huh," he agreed. "And for some reason the boyfriend stole the cell phone. Now why would he do that?"

We'd asked Allison that, but she swore that she didn't know.

And really, we weren't a hundred percent sure that he'd taken it. We just knew it wasn't at the house, and that a man had spoken with Johnny on the phone.

We'd also asked her why she hadn't called the cops.

"What good would that do? He was already dead."

"Didn't you want to find out who did it?" I'd asked her.

"I had a pretty good idea."

"So what was your plan?" Bernard asked. "You were just going to leave him there?"

"I knew that old-guy investigator was on his way over. But I couldn't just stand around and look at him like that. There was so much blood."

"So instead you went to the spa."

"Hey, if finding your husband dead doesn't warrant the necessity of a good massage, then I don't know what does," she'd replied reasonably.

"When was the last time that you saw Armando?"

"That morning," she'd said.

"He was with you when you went to the house?"

"No, he was there when I got there."

"Let me guess. He had a gun in his hand."

"No," she said, waving me off as though I was ridiculous. "But he didn't look upset by the fact that Richard was dead. He said that it was fate, that now we could be together."

"Was he actually in your house?"

"Yeah, I gave him a key."

"When?"

"A couple of months ago."

"Why?" I'd asked her. "Why in the world would you give your lover a key to your home?"

"He knew Richard's schedule," she'd said. And then she dropped her voice and held my gaze. "See, we liked to play these games sometimes. You know, where he'd pretend to be breaking into the place, and then he'd tie me up and…"

"Okay, we get it," I'd interrupted. "So you had no idea beforehand that Armando was going to kill Richard?"

"No. I mean, I knew that he wanted me all to himself, but I didn't think he'd kill him."

"But he knew that you'd lose your money if Richard divorced you."

"Well…yeah," she'd said with a shrug.

I'd had to take a break at that point.

"Let's drop Ben off at the courthouse and then pick up Armando," I said to Bernard.

He nodded in agreement as we went into the observation room.

"Where's Johnny?" I asked Ben. I'd fully expected to find him in there, even though I'd never heard a knock on the window.

"I haven't seen him," he said. "Wow, she really sold out her boyfriend, huh?"

"Uh huh," I agreed. "I'll be curious to hear what he has to say."

"You don't believe her?"

"That she found her husband dead on the kitchen floor and then she went to the spa? No."

"She needed a massage, Lupes," Bernard said with a grin. "Because finding your husband dead is _stressing_."

The three of us went down the hall, heading for the squad room, and I very nearly slammed into the back of Bernard when he pulled up short.

"Who is that?" he mumbled slowly. I looked past him and saw a woman sitting at Alex's desk.

"I don't know but she'd better get her ass out of that chair before Alex catches her," I replied.

I gave Bernard a shove to get him moving again.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked the woman.

"I don't think so," she said as she flipped through a case file. She had a badge clipped to her blazer which showed she was homicide out of the 2-7. "I'm waiting for my partner."

"And that would be…"

"Not really your business," she answered in a sweet tone that belied her words.

She finally looked up from her file and I watched her as she looked Bernard over carefully before shifting her gaze to me.

"My partner's just looking out for you," I told her conspiratorially. "Because if Detective Goren comes back and finds you sitting at her desk…"

"She knows I'm here."

She went back to reading her file and Bernard looked at me, but I just shrugged.

We had more important things to worry about.

I called for a uniform to come and sit on Allison while we were gone and then I picked up my coat from the rack.

"Come on, Ben. I know it's a little early, but I don't know how long we'll get held up with Armando, so we're going to have to take you to the courthouse now."

"It's going to be boring, isn't it?" he asked me. "Motions, sidebars, objections…"

"You want me to say that my future wife is boring in court? I don't think so," I finished with a grin.

"Yeah, Lupes, weren't you just telling me how incredibly _not boring_ she is?" Bernard asked me as he grabbed his coat. "Oh no wait…you weren't talking about in the courtroom, were you?"

"That's great, B. Throw me under the bus after I stood up for you with the cute detective," I replied as I led the way to the elevator.

"You think she was cute?" Bernard asked me.

"I think _you_ think she was cute," I answered.

"What makes you say that?"

"I've seen many a visiting detective in our squad room. I've never once heard you offer your assistance."

"Hey, I was just trying to be cordial," he insisted with a casual shrug. "Who do you think she is?"

"The badge said 2-7. Want me to call Loo and find out?" I offered. "Or I can text Alex and ask her who's the hottie sitting at her desk."

"Or you can mind your own damn business," he suggested when he saw me pull out my phone.

"Now why in the world would I want to do that? It'll only take a minute to send Alex a text…"

"Guys, shouldn't you be thinking about how you're going to find Armando?" Ben interrupted.

"Maybe, but this is more fun. You think he didn't ride my ass for weeks when he found out about Connie?"

"It wasn't weeks," Bernard denied. "And this isn't the same thing. You were keeping your relationship a secret from your _partner_."

"And from her brother," Ben added.

The elevator opened up in the parking garage and we went to the SUV.

"It is strange though, don't you think?" I asked, changing the subject since I was suddenly the target.

"What's strange?"

"We saw the Gorens and the Logans more when we didn't work with them than we do now that we are."

"Oh," Ben said. "The Logans. I forgot. They stopped by the observation room while you two were in with Allison."

"And?"

"They said something about wanting to help you guys on this case, but then while they were talking, Mike got a call. I guess it was from the chief or something, because then he said never mind and the two of them left."

"Huh," Bernard said. "Well, we almost had help."

"Hey, you've got help. I don't need to go to court," Ben insisted.

"You want me to tell Connie that you aren't interested in seeing her at work?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes at me and shook his head.

"It's not that I don't want to go. It's just that I feel invested in this case. What if you break it wide open while I'm sitting in the gallery?"

"It doesn't usually happen that fast," I told him. "We'll be lucky if we can even track him down today. I'm sure he's not just sitting at home waiting for us."

"So I can work with you guys again tomorrow?"

I glanced at Bernard and shrugged.

"Tell me again when you're going back to Miami?" Bernard asked Ben.

"Saturday. Think we can solve it by then?"

"We'll see what we can do," he told him. "I mean, anything to promote New York tourism, right?"

So we dropped Ben off at the courthouse and then headed for Queens to the address of Armando Smith.

"So which do you think is fake?" Bernard commented. "Armando? Or Smith? Because you know those two names don't go together."

"You can ask him as soon as we find him."

We drove in silence for several minutes as I let my mind wander.

And it wasn't on the case, which is where it should've been.

It was on Connie and our conversation from this morning. I'd wanted to ask her about that guy, the one who'd hit her. Because I knew that she'd mentioned before that she'd mostly only dated lawyers until me.

So now I was wondering if I knew him.

"Hey, Lupes," Bernard said. "She was cute, don't you think?"

"The girl at Alex's desk? Yeah."

I wanted to tease him about his obvious interest, but I remembered how supportive he'd been when I was making myself sick over proposing to Connie, so I held back.

"Girl. So you think she's young?"

"She's a detective. She can't be but so young. Thirty at least, I'd guess."

"Thirty," he repeated. "Remember when thirty seemed old?"

"You mean when we were on the other side of it?" I asked on a laugh.

"Yeah," he said thoughtfully.

"You're not that much older," I said.

"I'm forty-three," he stated. "That's miles away from thirty-anything. Wait until you hit forty and you'll see what I mean."

"So in three weeks I'm going to have this brilliant new insight?"

"You're going to be forty?" he asked. "I knew your birthday was coming up, but I didn't know it was _that_ one. Damn, Lupes, you're old."

"Yes, thank you," I said. "But we got off track here. Are you sure you don't want me to call Loo?"

"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "We've got work to do. Hey, I wonder what happened with Johnny."

"You think he chickened out because he didn't want to run into Alex?"

"That would be my bet."

**

* * *

**

Liz POV

I'd just gotten a report from the lab which pertained to Mike and Carolyn's case when Danny came into the morgue.

For some reason, Andrew, who had been cleaning out the sinks, suddenly left in a hurry.

"He's an odd kid, don't you think?" Danny asked me as he crossed the room and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

I hummed my agreement and continued reading over the document.

And it wasn't that I wasn't happy to see Danny.

I was.

But it was possible that I'd just found something extremely important.

"I can come back," Danny said.

"No, just give me another minute."

He wandered away from me as I finished up.

"I'm sorry," I said. "But Mike and Carolyn have been working that John Doe, and I think I might have just ID'd him. I need to give them a call."

"Call Alex or Bobby," he said. "They took over that case. The Logans are off and running on another one."

So I pulled out my phone to call Alex, but she didn't answer so I sent her a text message.

_**I may have an ID on your John Doe**_.

I set my phone down on the counter and then gave my husband my full attention.

"I'm not sure if I can go to lunch," I told him, assuming that was the reason for the social call.

"Is Andrew bringing something in?"

"No," I answered quickly, although I wasn't sure if that was entirely true.

The fact was that Andrew had been bringing me lunch a lot lately. Although in my defense, I'd never asked him to.

He just sort of showed up with it.

"Danny," I began, but he waved me off.

"I didn't come here for that. I came here because I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

He crossed the room again and came to stand right in front of me. It was close, considering that we were at work, and I found myself backing slightly away. He put his hand on my arm.

"I told the commissioner that I needed some time."

"Time for what?"

"Vacation. I want us to go away, just the two of us."

"A vacation?" I repeated. That had to be about the last thing I'd expected him to say.

We'd never gone anywhere with the exception of Niagara Falls where we'd gotten married.

Danny rarely even took a Sunday off of work, much less a week day.

And he was only a few weeks into the new job.

"You can't take time off," I added. "There's too much going on right now."

"I did. It's done."

"But, I can't take it either," I insisted. "Do you know how many autopsies I have scheduled already? And the list grows by the hour. Danny, I can't."

"You can. There's never going to be a good time. We just have to do it."

"When?" I asked.

"This afternoon. If we leave now, we can go home and pack and be on the road by two."

"To where?"

I felt as though I was two steps behind and all I could do was stand there and stare at him.

But he smiled at me and stepped closer, putting his hands on my cheeks.

"I got us a room at a lodge in the Catskills. Just me and you, for five days, with no outside distractions."

Then he leaned in and kissed me, chastely but firmly, with his hands still holding me in place.

I was in shock.

The gesture was romantic and grand and…just not like him, and yet at the same time I felt a sense of panic about the whole idea.

What would we do for five days?

_More of what we did last night_, I reminded myself.

That wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Last night had been pretty damn good.

But undoubtedly, we'd also talk.

That was why he wanted us to go away.

He wanted us to have a chance to heal.

Together.

If I said no it would be like saying no to my marriage.

And maybe not literally, but ultimately, isn't that what it would be?

I'd be saying that I wasn't willing to set aside my work to save my relationship.

Was I?

Could I really do this, just toss aside all of my responsibilities to run away with him to some cozy little room in the mountains?

He was still close, still watching me carefully while his thumbs caressed the sides of my face. He seemed a little unsure of himself despite his decisive words.

_He's afraid_, I realized.

"What do you say, Liz? Are you with me?"

What was it that Alex had said to me last night?

_If you love him, then he's worth it. If you push him away because you're scared of everything that might happen you'll only end up regretting it. _

And I wasn't so naïve as to think that love conquered all.

It doesn't.

Sometimes two people can love each other and it just doesn't work out.

But this wasn't going to be one of those times.

"It'll take me thirty minutes to organize things here," I said, finally returning his smile. "Can you wait for me?"

"For thirty minutes? I'll wait for you for however long it takes."

TBC...


	22. Chapter 22

**Johnny POV**

* * *

I completely forgot about my own problems as I watched my oldest son confess his sins.

I was simply stunned.

And my heart was broken.

Not _because_ of him.

_For_ him.

I could feel Sean beside me, tense and full of temper as he muttered curses at his brother.

But I couldn't help but think that some of this was my fault.

How many times had I pressured Kevin to keep his nose clean?

How many times had I insisted on him being responsible and mature, even when he was a child?

Would he have made these same mistakes if he'd been allowed to make them as a teenager?

Or was it because I'd hounded him constantly, wanting him to learn from _my_ mistakes rather than make his own?

He'd been my first.

The expectations I'd placed on him were tremendous.

I wanted him to be the role model.

Be the one I could count on.

Be the cop.

Of course, that last one didn't happen.

It was one of the few times I could remember where he'd ever gone against my wishes.

He'd been eighteen when he came to me and admitted that he wanted to go to college and major in Fire Science.

"You want to be a firefighter?" I'd asked him as though he'd said he wanted to be a clown or a crash-test dummy.

"It's all I've ever wanted to do," he'd replied earnestly.

"But…why?" I'd responded.

I'd slept on the couch in the den that night because Mary was angry with me.

"You never let him be a boy, John," she'd said to me. "The least you can do is let him be a man."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I'd fired back at her.

"I'm betting you'll find the answer in that bottle of whiskey," she'd snapped back as she left the den.

I'd cursed her for the first half hour after she'd left me alone and then I'd figured out what she meant.

She's smart, my Mary.

And sharp-tongued, but usually only when I deserved it.

I watched through the window as Alex went around to put her hand on Kevin's shoulder.

Alex.

My wild child.

I'd known from day one that she was going to be a cop.

With Kevin, I'd wanted it. I'd wished it for him.

But with Alex, it just _was_.

And no, she wasn't overtly wild, but she definitely had a streak in her. She used to steal my beer and drink it out on the roof.

For awhile, I pretended that I didn't know what was going on.

_Something I never did with Kevin_, I reminded myself.

I never let him get the rebellion out of his system. Instead, I just made him bury it.

_Well, it was sure as hell out now, wasn't it?_

"I hate that you got into this situation," I heard Alex say. "But we all make mistakes."

"How can she say that?" Sean erupted. "He's been lying to her for two days. He was doing drugs. God, what a fucking hypocrite."

"Sean," I said harshly. "Don't talk about your brother like that."

"Why not? Did you hear what he said? He was doing coke. And he had it at the house with the kids there. Jeez Dad, if that doesn't piss you off, I don't know what will."

"I heard what he said," I replied quietly.

Sean was right to an extent.

Kevin had been reckless.

But he was definitely paying the price now.

He was caught up in this investigation that was ultimately going to put on display every stupid thing he'd done over the past six months.

He would be lucky if Kendra didn't kick him out of the house.

Lucky if he didn't lose his job.

His life was a mess.

I watched as Alex and Bobby left Kevin alone in the room. He put his head down on the table.

"I'm going to talk to him," I said.

"Yeah, I've got a few things to say to him, too," Sean agreed as he reached for the door.

"Sean, he doesn't need your anger right now."

"No, he needs an ass-whipping."

"That's not what I meant."

"What are you going to do, give him a hug? Tell him that everything's going to be okay? It's not, Dad. He's totally screwed."

"Why are you so angry with him? You never did anything stupid? No, don't answer that. I know you've done plenty of stupid things."

"Yeah, when I was a _kid_. Now I _have_ kids. And a wife. I can't afford to act reckless and forget about consequences."

"You forgave your sister," I reminded him.

"Alex didn't do anything! Kevin's the one who's been lying to her!"

"I'm not talking about Alex," I shot back. "I'm talking about Cathy. The sister who got caught up in drugs and cheated on her husband. Have you forgotten about that already?"

"That's different," he retorted. "She's…she's…Cathy."

"And this is Kevin. He's not allowed to fuck up?"

I didn't often use the f-word, and even less often in front of my children, but Sean was being short-sighted and judgmental, and I needed something to get his attention.

That did it.

He stopped arguing with me and instead just stared.

"Now I'm going in to talk to your brother, to be supportive because he needs us right now. If you can't do that, fine. But stay the hell away. I'm not going to stand back and listen to you brow-beat him over his mistakes. I have no doubt that he's doing enough of that for himself."

"You're just going to…you're…"

"What would you want from me if it was you? Did you stop for a minute and think about that, Sean?"

I left my one son standing in the observation room as I headed for the interrogation room to talk to the other.

Alex and Bobby were still in the hall, talking quietly in their shorthand way that used to bug the crap out of me.

"I'm going to talk to him," I said. "If that's okay."

"Yeah, Dad," Alex said. "That's fine. Where's Sean?"

"He's still in the other room."

"I got a text from Rodgers, so we need to make a quick trip to the morgue. We'll take Sean and Hayes with us because, well…we have to keep working this. You heard what he said. He may be in danger."

"I know," I said, suddenly unable to resist reaching out and touching her on the arm. "I'll stay with him. You guys go find the killer."

She nodded at me and clasped her hand over mine for just a minute before turning and walking down the hall.

"Oh, hey," she called out. "What were you doing here, anyway?"

"Shit," I muttered. My vocabulary had deteriorated today and I had no doubt that Mary would flay me for it because she would somehow mysteriously know about it even though she wasn't around, but still...the events of the day seemed to warrant the harsh language. "Alex, it's…it's a whole thing that I probably better not get into right now, okay? Lupo and Bernard are looking into something for me."

"You're not in any trouble?"

"Not really," I hedged. And then I realized that my son was sitting in the interrogation room at 1PP because he'd been hedging the truth for days. "Actually, yes. I did something really stupid and now a guy is dead and Lupo and Bernard are trying to get to the bottom of it so that the business doesn't get any bad press."

She stared at me, speechless for a moment, and then turned and looked at Bobby. It killed me how looking at him was like a reset button for her. Whatever the situation, she could glance at him and find her balance again. As expected, after looking at her husband she turned back to me.

"I'm sorry, did you say that you did something really stupid?" she asked with a smirk. I knew she'd enjoy that part.

"Yes," I said on a sigh.

"Are you in any kind of danger or anything?" Bobby asked me.

"No."

"And Lupo and Bernard are on it?"

"Uh huh. And Ben, I think. I'm not sure."

"Okay," Alex said, shaking her head. "Okay, we'll talk more about this later."

Sean came out of the observation room and glanced quickly at me before turning to Alex and Bobby.

"We've got work to do, right?" he asked them.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go."

He was still mad at Kevin.

And that was fine.

I wasn't going to tell him that he couldn't be mad.

I wasn't even going to tell him that he couldn't unload on his brother and tell him exactly what he thought about the choices he'd made.

Just not right now.

It wasn't good practice to kick a man when he was down, and at the moment, Kevin couldn't get much lower.

I opened the door to the interrogation room and quietly went inside.

I wasn't sure what to say.

I wasn't very good with the touchy-feely kind of stuff.

But then Kevin raised his head to look at me and his eyes were glassy and my heart broke all over again.

For some reason, it reminded me of when he was eight.

I'd been talking to Mary about an ailment and she wanted me to go to the doctor.

"_But how much are they going to charge me? You know they'll want to take x-rays and then the insurance will only pay so much."_

At that moment, I'd seen Kevin standing in the doorway.

"_I've got some money, Dad,"_ he'd said to me. _"If you need to use it so that you can go to the doctor, that would be okay with me."_

My heart had broken then, too.

He'd shown maturity and selflessness at an age when the opposite was the norm.

And now he was again a contradiction.

He'd shown negligence and carelessness when he should've been responsible.

"Dad…" he began, but then his voice cracked and a tear slid down his cheek.

"It's okay," I told him as I sat down in the chair next to him.

Then I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him in a way that I hadn't done in far too many years.

"Dad, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. We'll figure this out, Kevin. I promise."

TBC...


	23. Chapter 23

**Bobby POV**

* * *

Alex and I went to the morgue, along with Sean and Hayes.

It felt a little strange to have them tagging along with us, especially since Sean's mood had gone from sullen about us taking his case to damn near impossible after hearing Kevin's confession.

"You knew about this and you weren't going to tell me?" he asked Alex as we went down the hall to Liz's autopsy suite.

"Eames," Hayes admonished.

"Sean," I said at the same time. "Let it go. We were just getting you up to speed on the case. We would've filled you in."

"On all of it?"

"On what pertained to the case," Alex clarified.

"It all pertains to the case," he muttered.

Alex's reply was stymied by the appearance of Ross and Liz.

"We were just coming to see you," I said. "You've got an ID?"

She paused and looked at Ross before saying, "It'll just take me a minute."

"You gave it to Jenkins," he said firmly. "He can handle it."

"What's going on?" Alex asked.

"We're officially on vacation," Ross said. "Liz handed off her workload to Jenkins, so he should have the information you're looking for."

"Okay," I said agreeably. I would much rather work with Liz, but I was glad to see that Ross had taken the bull by the horns, so to speak. They needed the break.

"It was shoes from the dumpster," Liz began. "Customized Nikes. They were with the clothes that had the same DNA as the floater, and…"

"Liz," Alex interrupted. "Go. We'll go find Jenkins. You two have fun. And thank you."

"Are you sure? Because I can…"

"Go," I said.

The two of them continued down the hall and we went to find Jenkins.

"So that was the ME that you guys use?" Hayes asked.

"Every time we can," I told her. "She's the best."

"I'll remember that."

So we found Jenkins and he gave us the information that Liz had been able to obtain.

Amidst the vast amount of items we'd pulled from the dumpster had been Johnson's clothing. She'd been able to match up his DNA to the skin cells pulled from the clothing.

The catch with the shoes was that while they'd been _with_ the clothing, there was no viable sample from which to obtain DNA.

It was a guess that they belonged with the clothing.

But the good news was, as she'd mentioned, that the shoes were very specific.

And it only took a phone call to get the identity of the person who had purchased them.

"But they might not belong to him," Hayes pointed out as we got back into the SUV. "Someone else might have left them in the dumpster."

"Or he could've stolen the shoes," Sean suggested. "I mean, he is a drug dealer, right? And really, how trustworthy are people who use drugs?"

He'd said this with bitter attitude.

Alex caught his gaze in the rearview mirror and held it so long that I was afraid she was going to rear-end the car in front of us.

I turned toward the backseat and in doing so, covertly put my hand on her leg in a gesture of comfort.

"You're both right," I said, suddenly feeling like a professor. "We have no way of knowing at this point. But we're also short on leads, so we have to check it out."

"Or we could talk to Kevin some more," Sean said. "You were too nice to him. You really believe that he doesn't know the real name of his dealer? Or where he lives? Come on, Alex."

"He doesn't know," I said firmly.

"And you need to get that damn chip off your shoulder, or you can go back to the 2-7," Alex added.

"You're going to hold this case over my head? You think you're doing me some big favor?"

"Eames," Hayes warned again. "They _are_ doing us a favor, so quit acting like a spoiled brat. Your brother was doing drugs. Big fucking deal. At least he knows that he was wrong and he's trying to quit."

"Exactly," I said, glad that she was working to calm Sean down.

Their partnership was so new that it would've been easy for her not to call him out on his behavior, but the fact that she did was promising.

"What do you know about it?" Sean retorted to Hayes, although I could tell that he was losing a little bit of steam.

"A lot," she replied. "My brother started smoking crack when he was fifteen. And you know where he is now? Dead. Because he never had the strength or the courage to admit that he needed help. Which is what your brother is doing. And maybe it wasn't by choice. Obviously the circumstances got out of control for him, but believe me…that doesn't make it any easier for Kevin. He could've just as easily gone right back to what he was doing and said to hell with everyone."

"I'm sorry," Sean said quietly. "I didn't know about your brother."

"Don't be sorry," she replied. "Be helpful and be forgiving. You being pissed at him isn't going to help him. And you taking it out on Detective Goren _really_ isn't going to help him."

"I hear you."

I turned back around in my seat and thought about what Hayes had said. Of course, I'd lost my brother to drugs, too. I had no doubt that Frank was on Alex's mind rather than Kevin when she dropped her hand to mine and squeezed it.

"So," she said carefully. "Are we all on the same page?"

"We need to check out the address and find out if it's our dead dealer," Sean said. "And then what? How does that help us find out who's after Kevin?"

"We have no idea," I told him. "And it may not, but like I said, we're short on leads."

Thirty minutes later, the four of us began looking around the home of the man who owned the shoes.

It was most definitely Johnson, although his name was actually Larry Conrad.

"I'm not finding a log book anywhere," Alex muttered to me as she and I went through the living room.

"Maybe it was just a deterrent," I suggested. "It was his way of making sure that he didn't end up dead."

"Looks like he should've thought of a better way," she replied.

"You know, I've been thinking," I began, moving closer to her so that I could only share my theory with her. Sean and Hayes were searching the kitchen but the place was small so they were well within earshot.

"Is that supposed to surprise me?" she asked with a smirk.

I was just grateful that she still had somewhat of a sense of humor considering all she'd been through this week.

"About Johnson," I clarified with a smile. She returned my smile and we shared a brief moment before I got to my point. "I think that maybe he doesn't have anything to do with this."

"He just happened to end up dead?"

"Think about it. Dom was left in the alley. Sabin was left on a sidewalk. Johnson had his face ruined and his fingers cut off before being tossed in the river."

"And like Hayes said," she added with a nod. "Two stabbings and one broken neck."

"Right. What if the killer tossed the dealer's body so that his statement didn't get confused?"

"His statement? And what is that? I'm pissed and I have an axe?"

"I think he's angry at firefighters," I stated. "Sabin was an instructor. Dominick was a fireman. They were left in plain sight. The dealer was hidden."

"So...you think that Johnson interrupted the killer? He's just collateral damage?"

"Or Dominick was with him when the killer came around. Or maybe Dominick killed him, I don't know. But I do think that it wasn't the killer's intention for Johnson to end up dead. That's why he tossed the clothes in the dumpster and went through the exercise to prolong identification."

She nodded thoughtfully at me.

"Maybe," she agreed. "It makes sense. But why those two? And if he was watching Kevin's house, does that mean that he's next? There are hundreds of firefighters in this city. How are people ending up on his list?"

"That's a very good question. We need to find out if Sabin was Dominick's instructor. We need to see if and where their lives may have intersected."

"Then we can see who else ran across them," she added with a smile.

"And narrow our suspect field," I finished.

"This guy's got some serious weight," Sean called out to us. "At least twenty pounds."

"And cash," Hayes added. "A little over twelve grand."

"Did you find the log book?" Sean asked us.

"No. I don't think he had one," I told him.

"Maybe he's got a safety deposit box somewhere," he suggested.

"And yet he kept his cash in a drawer in the kitchen?" Hayes questioned. "I don't think so."

"I agree," Alex said. "And I don't think we're going to find anything of use in here. Let's have it sealed up as a crime scene just in case, but we need to start looking at the other two victims."

We started by going to the home of Joshua Sabin. Sean and Hayes had already searched the place, but Alex and I hadn't been there yet, so it was a must.

"It's not to double check you," I assured them. "It's because the scope has changed."

We learned that Sabin had been a volunteer instructor at the firefighter school, which was why it wasn't part of his employment record that Eames and Hayes had obtained. But even though he wasn't getting paid, he was one of the few who decided whether a person passed or failed.

"So maybe someone killed him because Sabin failed him," Hayes suggested.

"Dominick just got out six months ago," Alex added. "We need to find out who was in that class with him. And see if any of them were some of Sabin's failures."

"Because the killer might hold a grudge against Eckhart for being successful," Sean stated.

"Right," I agreed. "And he probably feels like Sabin is the reason that he didn't get assigned to a ladder company. He won't accept the fact that he's to blame."

"But why Kevin?" Alex added. "He hasn't gone through any schooling in years."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked her. "Maybe he's taken some kind of refresher course, or tested for qualification on new equipment."

"That's true," she agreed. "We'll have to find that out."

"Maybe it's not that. Maybe the killer thinks Kevin has seen him," Hayes said.

"Or he saw Kevin and Dominick together," I proposed. "It may have started out as payback, and then he found out the he just enjoys it."

We made another pass of Dominick's place after we finished at Sabin's and then we dropped off Sean and Hayes at the 2-7.

"We'll see you in the morning," Alex said. "Be at 1PP by seven-thirty."

Neither complained about the early start time. In fact, Hayes made a point of thanking us again for the opportunity.

And then Sean gave his sister a hug.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "It just…it really got to me."

"I know," she said. "But we have a job to do."

"What are we going to do about Kevin?"

"For now, we're just going to make sure that he's safe. And after we catch the killer…I don't know. We'll do whatever he needs."

"You make it sound easy."

"It's not. But it doesn't take much to start down the wrong path, does it? Sometimes you just need a good navigator to point you in the right direction. I seem to remember a time…"

"I know what you're going to say," he said on a laugh. "And I know. You're right."

Alex's phone buzzed so she pulled it from her belt and looked at the text.

"Kevin's going to stay at Dad's tonight," Alex told us. "And Kendra took the kids to go stay at her sister's."

"I don't think they're in any danger," I said.

"I don't either, but it's better to be safe."

We got in the car and headed for home.

"What was it that you were going to remind Sean about?" I asked her.

We were technically off-duty now, so I didn't feel bad about slipping my hand under her hair and massaging the back of her neck while she drove.

"Oh, it was a long time ago," she said.

"And?"

"I caught Sean in the process of buying a term paper in high school."

"You caught him actually trying to buy it?"

"Yeah, it was just weird timing I guess. But anyway, when he saw me, he walked away and pretended like nothing was going on, but I followed him and pestered him until he came clean."

"And so then he didn't buy it?"

"No. And I don't know, maybe he would've gone back eventually, but a couple of days later the kid who was selling the papers got busted. He gave up everyone who'd ever bought one from him."

"And what happened to them?"

"They were all expelled for the rest of the year."

"Ouch. So you saved him from getting kicked out of school."

"Right. Which probably saved him from getting kicked out of the house because Dad would've blown a gasket. And of course, he never would've gotten into Penn State if he'd had something like that on his record."

"So he started down the wrong path and you helped him."

"Like I said, it was just dumb luck that I happened to see him that day."

"Well, it wasn't dumb luck that Kevin got us on this case. So now you're helping another brother."

"It's nothing they wouldn't do for me. Only I don't need it," she replied, glancing at me and giving me a smile. "Because I've got you."

TBC...


	24. Chapter 24

**Lupo POV**

* * *

Bernard and I spent the afternoon going through Armando Smith's apartment.

He wasn't at home, but he had a roommate and the roommate's name was the one on the lease, so we had permission without bothering with a search warrant.

And in the bathroom, we hit pay dirt.

"Who hides a cell phone in a toilet tank?" Bernard asked me as he pulled the device from the water. It was in a ziplock baggie, but still…we usually found drugs or weapons in the tank. Not electronics.

"Let me guess," I said. "Richard Sundberg."

He set the bag down on the counter and pulled out his own cell so that he could dial the number of our victim.

The phone in the baggie rang.

"This would be good PR for Ziploc," Bernard joked. "It seals so tightly that it can preserve a cell phone submerged in water."

"I'll get on the phone with their CEO right away," I quipped.

I was squatting down in front of the bathroom cabinet, going through the various items that were tossed haphazardly into the space.

"Why would the guy keep the phone?" Bernard muttered. "Every other criminal would've tossed it off a bridge or something, but he hides it in his toilet?"

"I don't think we're dealing with Mensa candidates," I replied.

I pulled a stack of towels from near the back and found it to be heavier than it should. I reached in between two of the towels and found a revolver.

"Hey B.," I called out as I held up the weapon using one finger in the trigger guard. "Now we know why there was no brass."

"Not an experienced shooter, but a revolver," he said with a nod.

"So Armando's our guy?"

"Or someone wants us to think so."

"Someone like Allison," I stated.

"Maybe. But if it's _not_ him, then where is he?"

The roommate had said that he hadn't seen Armando since early yesterday.

"_I can't keep up with him though,"_ he'd told us with a wave. _"The guy has more women than…than…I don't know what. But it's a lot."_

"Dave!" I called out.

"What is it?" the roommate asked as he hustled to the bathroom doorway.

"You said that Armando has a lot of women. Do any of them ever come here?"

"Sure. I've seen a whole parade of them."

"Any lately?"

"Allison something or other," he said. "She's been here a few times over the past week."

"How about yesterday?" Bernard asked him. "Or Monday?"

"She was here yesterday," he confirmed. "That was when I saw Armando. Both of them left before lunch, and he hasn't been back."

"Okay, thanks," I said, dismissing him as I turned back to Bernard.

"So Allison comes over here for one last hoorah and then plants the phone and the gun before tracking you down to tell you that Armando is the killer," Bernard purported.

"You think they did it together?"

"I definitely think they did it together," he agreed. "But we need to find Armando and hear his side of the story."

We bagged the evidence and left the apartment on Dave's promise to call us on the down low if Armando showed up.

Then we made one last stop by the morgue before calling it quits.

"Dr. Rodgers is on vacation," Dr. Jenkins told us. "I'm handling her cases. What can I do for you?"

As it turned out, not much.

I was disappointed that Liz had cut and run, but I didn't blame her. If anyone needed a vacation, it was her.

But Jenkins was nowhere near as savvy.

"What's our theory?" Bernard asked me before we parted ways.

"I'm thinking that Allison went home from talking to Johnny and killed Richard. Then she turned up the heat to make it seem like he'd been dead longer, only she didn't know that it was going to take Johnny so long to show, so it ended up blurring the lines on the time of death too much."

"You think she's that smart?"

"I think anyone who watches an episode of that cop show on TV would know that excessive heat would throw off the TOD."

"We'll take another run at her in the morning," he said with a nod. "I'll stop back by 1PP and put her in holding overnight."

"Oh, she's going to love that," I remarked. "And I hate to say it, but I don't think we have enough to hold her."

"Hey, she's a material witness who asked for protective custody, right? I mean, she did tell you that she was afraid Armando would kill her next."

"That's true," I agreed with a grin. "I can do it if you want."

"No, you need to get home," he reminded me, and he seemed to be enjoying that fact a little too much. "I'm sure that court has let out by now."

"Alright. I'll catch you in the morning and we'll play hardball with the widow."

I left Bernard and headed for home. When I got there, I could hear arguing through the door as I put in my key.

"It's no big deal?" Ben was shouting. "How can you say that?"

"Because it isn't," Connie retorted.

I entered the apartment and Otto immediately greeted me, working his way behind my legs. I bent down to scratch his ears.

"Have they been going at it for awhile?" I asked him quietly. He seemed grateful to have me in the apartment, which was unusual when Connie was around, so I could only guess that it had gone on long enough.

"I'm home," I announced loudly. Connie and Ben turned towards me in unison, her with an annoyed expression and him with an angry one. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is that she got threatened today in court and now she's blowing it off."

"You got threatened?" I asked her as I walked over to stand next to her. "What happened?"

"This nut job defendant," Ben began, but I held up my hand and interrupted him.

"Tell me what happened," I said as I looked at Connie.

"He was just venting," she said. "We didn't get to the closing today, but when I was questioning one witness, I got her to admit in open court that the defendant was impotent. He went ballistic, and so the judge convened for the day."

"Yeah, and then the guy started yelling that if he gets acquitted, he's coming after her," Ben finished.

"Is this the arsonist?" I asked her.

I didn't point out to Ben that juries didn't usually care for defendants who shouted at the prosecuting attorney. And maybe it shouldn't make a difference in the verdict, but it inevitably did.

"Yeah," she nodded at me, and then she looked at Ben and added, "He'll be found guilty and he'll go to jail."

"But now you're his focus," Ben argued. "What are you going to do when he gets parole? Or if he _does_ get acquitted? I know you think you're unbeatable, but I'm sure you've lost a case or two in the past. And now you've got a psycho arsonist who knows your name. I'm telling you, Connie. You need to get out of this city."

"What, there aren't crazy people in Miami?" she fired back.

"You lived there for a year and I don't remember you ever getting threatened at work!"

"I was a kindergarten teacher!" she yelled.

"Okay, everyone needs to take a breath and settle down," I said.

"How can you be so calm?" Ben asked, turning his focus onto me. "You're okay with the fact that she was threatened?"

"Of course I'm not okay with it."

"But…what?"

"But she's a prosecutor. It happens."

"Just like sometimes your murder suspects show up outside of your house?"

"What?" Connie asked in surprise.

I gave her a look that said _not now_ and then turned back to Ben.

"We both have jobs that bring us into contact with criminals," I told him carefully.

"So you're just going to stand back and let her…"

"Let me?" Connie interrupted.

"Uh, I'm not in the business of telling her what she can and can't do," I said quickly.

"But you're…"

"Going to be her husband," I finished. "Not her father."

Ben looked back and forth between me and Connie and then shook his head.

"I think you're both crazy," he said at last.

"This morning you were pretty excited about what we do," I reminded him.

He was starting to piss me off with his attitude, although deep down, I knew that he was just worried.

I didn't blame him, because of course I didn't like the idea of this guy threatening her either, but that didn't mean I would ever expect her to quit her job.

It just meant that I'd keep tabs on the guy.

If he didn't go to prison, I'd have a little more to worry about, but if he did, then I'd just make sure that his correspondence was monitored and considering he'd made a threat in open court, that wouldn't be hard to do.

"I'm just…I'm…I don't know," Ben said, expelling an annoyed breath. "I'm going to take the dog for a walk."

He grabbed Otto's leash from the rack and quickly hooked him up before heading out the door.

"I'm sorry about that," Connie said once he was gone.

"You're sorry?"

"He has a little bit of a temper."

"So I noticed. But that's not your fault," I assured her. Then I pulled her into my arms. "Are you okay? This guy…"

"Don't you start, too," she said tiredly.

"I'm not starting anything," I said soothingly as I ran my hand over her hair. "I'm asking if you're okay."

She took in a deep shuddering breath and relaxed into my embrace.

"Yes," she said at last. "Although the guy was creepy."

"You let me know as soon as the verdict comes in," I told her.

"I promise."

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

Our return to Major Case was most definitely not what I'd anticipated.

I never dreamed that my first case would involve Kevin, although maybe I should have. I mean, I did just finish up a whole thing with Cathy.

Clearly my family wasn't exempt from making bad decisions.

But this was _really_ bad.

This was Kevin on our suspect list as well as now being in danger.

And of course, I was pretty sure that he didn't belong on our suspect list, but I had to keep him there until we could officially rule him out.

Especially now that we had the case of Larry Conrad, aka Johnson, because he had been Kevin's dealer.

And my brother had no viable alibi for either victim.

Which meant that Kevin was still _firmly_ on the list.

Although, once Joshua Sabin was factored in as potentially being killed by the same person, it made things look better for Kevin.

He _had_ been at the firehouse during Sabin's murder, so if we could undoubtedly establish that all three victims _had_ been killed by the same person, then we _would_ be able to rule him out.

But until then, there he remained.

Sean's attitude had taken me by surprise, but then again, so had my father's.

Maybe he was mellowing out in his old age. Normally I would've expected hostility from him and understanding from Sean.

But this week, it felt like nothing was as it seemed.

It made me want to close the door to our apartment, shutting out the rest of the outside world so that it was just me and Bobby.

I had the urge to do that a lot lately.

I'd spent an enjoyable Monday night forgetting my own name.

Bobby was great at that.

In fact, he was really great about everything. He'd kept me focused during this investigation and he'd tolerated my irritability while simultaneously reminding me that it was misplaced.

Tuesday night I'd had entirely too much to drink and then I'd come home and proceeded to use Bobby again. He'd been an extremely willing participant, but I'd definitely been the one in control.

So tonight, as we went into our apartment and shed our hardware, I decided that it was his turn.

Because we were partners and yet lately, I'd been doing all of the taking.

It was time for me to give.

I went and flipped the deadbolt into the locked position and then I turned back to Bobby.

"The case is out there," I said, pointing at the door. "It's just us in here."

He nodded and gave me a slow smile, "Are you sure?"

I walked over to him and slid my arms around him.

"I'm sure. We need this time to get ourselves ready to jump back into that tomorrow," I explained. "So really, the only question right now is _what can I do for you_?"

He pulled me tighter up against him and as I kissed along the side of his neck, I could feel him harden.

It was a heady feeling, knowing that I could do that to him just from my words and a few innocent kisses.

And it never seemed to get old or any less amazing to know that I was able to cause that type of immediate reaction.

"This doesn't have to be about me," he said softly as he ran his hands over my back.

"Yes it does," I insisted. I put my hands on his face, pulling his head down so that I could kiss him on the lips.

I'd thought that maybe I'd have trouble forcing thoughts of work from my mind, but I didn't. I guess that Bobby and I had become pros at that by now.

We spent plenty of time working, so when it was time for us, it needed to be about us.

I kept my hands on his cheeks, caressing his five o'clock shadow with my thumbs as I poured myself into the kiss.

"You were going to tell me what you want," I reminded him when I finally pulled my mouth away from his. I moved my hands down to his tie and began undoing the knot, slowly and deliberately.

"I have what I want," he replied.

"What do you want me to _do_," I clarified as I pulled the tie from around his neck. "I know you have a thousand and one fantasies in your head. Pick one, any one, and we'll do it."

And maybe there was a time when that offer might have made me a little apprehensive.

I knew that Bobby's imagination was unrivaled and I didn't even try to guess which scenario he'd suggest.

But it didn't matter.

I trusted him implicitly, so whatever it was that he wanted, it would undoubtedly be my pleasure.

I unbuttoned his shirt and then pulled it off of him while I waited for him to make up his mind. I couldn't help but smirk at how hard he was concentrating.

"It's not a one-time offer," I teased. "You can pick another one tomorrow night."

He chuckled but then stopped when I moved my hands down to his belt buckle.

I undid it and then grabbed onto the zipper, slowly pulling it down and allowing the backs of my fingers to push against his erection as I did so.

"It's not that I'm trying to choose," he managed to say. "It's that I'm trying to think if there's one you haven't already fulfilled."

"Surely there is," I told him as I pushed his pants and boxers down to the floor.

"I don't think so," he said, and then he put his hand under my chin, tilting my face up toward his. "I think you've satisfied every one."

His words sent an odd mixture of pride and arousal and energy through me.

"In fact," he continued. "I'm sure that you have. So it's time to hear one of yours."

"But this is supposed to be about you," I countered as he began undressing me in the same unhurried manner that I had done to him.

"What makes you think," he began and then he pressed his lips against my newly exposed skin. Then he continued talking, intermixing his words with kisses. "That you…sharing a fantasy…and allowing me to give it to you…_wouldn't_ be about me?"

"Um…" I answered ineloquently. The only part of my brain that was actually working was sensory reception.

"You know what?" he asked as his eyes burned a path over my bare chest. "You're right. I do have one more fantasy."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. That's what it is. You, telling me exactly what you want."

"So…your fantasy is to be my sex slave?"

But I could barely even think to keep up our conversation because by this point, he was kneeling in front of me, pulling off my shoes and sliding my slacks down my legs.

I wasn't sure how he'd managed to turn the tables on me so easily.

Although maybe it was those big hands running up and down my legs or maybe it was the feel of his breath on my skin.

"Alex?" he whispered just before his lips brushed against my stomach. He moved his hands up to my backside, tightening his grip and pulling me closer to him. "Your fantasy?"

I let my head fall back and I closed my eyes, giving in to the sensations.

"Anything with you in it."

TBC...


	25. Chapter 25

**Bobby POV**

* * *

We were getting the hang of keeping our personal lives separate from work.

And that probably sounds strange considering we've been pros at that for quite some time, but this was different.

This was not letting the _professional_ intrude on the _personal_, rather than the other way around.

But when Alex locked the door and told me that the case was on the outside and we were inside, I was right there with her.

Because if we'd started discussing Kevin and Sean and what was up with her dad…well, we might've been up all night and then had to start the next day even more stressed.

But instead, we didn't talk about any of that.

Instead, we undressed each other in the foyer.

I'd driven her to the brink, repeatedly, while she'd stood there with her hands in my hair.

And then she'd gotten down onto the floor with me, taking me in slowly until I thought I would explode just from the anticipation.

I wanted to grab onto her hips and thrust deeply inside of her but I forced myself to wait.

To let her go at her pace.

She'd wanted the night to be about me, and in a way, it still was.

It was about me tuning into her and knowing what she needed.

About me being able to stay on course when she was floundering, rather than the other way around.

For the past decade, she'd been the constant in my life. The stabilizing force who always managed to keep me centered.

So as much as she felt like she'd been doing the taking for the past couple of days, it had been _me _who'd been doing it for years.

And really, aside from that, there were no losers here.

So I'd gently held onto her waist as she continued to sweetly torture me by almost, _almost_ taking me completely in and then slowly reversing the motion.

I'd held on, biting my lip until she leaned down and kissed me. Then she'd run her tongue along my damaged lip before bringing her eyes to mine and that had been it.

Because her look had said _it's your turn_.

A switch was flipped and my control was lost.

In a flash, I'd rolled us and then turned her onto her stomach before pushing into her, hard like I'd wanted to do earlier.

For a split second, I was afraid that I might have hurt her, but she must have sensed my hesitation because she urged me to keep moving.

And that's not _exactly_ how she said it.

In fact, she'd said it in a way that had me pounding into her with reckless abandon.

And somehow her relentless teasing had conversely served to prolong the inevitable because we went at it for quite some time, on the floor in the foyer, until we both collapsed in a satiated, breathless heap.

I was aware that I was covering her completely, pushing her into the thick carpeting, but when I tried to move, she stopped me.

"Don't go anywhere," she murmured. My lips were near her ear, so I kissed her there, lightly and reverently, a tender expression of love after the frantic coupling of moments ago.

"I wouldn't dream of it," I replied. "I just wanted to make sure that you could breathe."

She chuckled and I could feel the sound as much as hear it. And even though she'd told me not to move, I still shifted onto my side, taking her with me so that she was tucked against my chest.

We stayed like that for several long minutes until her stomach growled, prompting us to once again face reality.

But we still didn't talk about the case.

Not at all, in fact.

We talked about Ross and Liz, speculating where they might have run off to.

And we talked about Cathy and Steve, discussing the progress that the two of them were making with their reconciliation.

After dinner, we curled up together on the couch and watched a mindless movie, and then we went to bed.

It was a lovely example of domestic bliss.

Until the phone rang at two-twenty.

"This is what turns people homicidal," Alex muttered as she rolled away from me to answer the phone. "This right here. They should do a study on murderers in prison and I bet more than fifty percent of them were repeatedly awakened from a sound sleep by a ringing phone."

I chuckled sleepily at her grumblings as she brought the phone to her ear.

"Goren," she practically shouted. "And this had better be good…Kendra?"

Her voice quickly changed from irritated to distressed.

She sat up in the bed and so did I.

"When? Did he see you? Okay, stay right there," she said firmly as she got up. "We'll be there as fast as we can. Don't open the door, do you hear me?"

She hung up the phone and looked at me with worried eyes.

"Kendra went home," she said as she reached for her clothes. I started getting dressed, too, as she filled me in. "She left the kids at her sister's, but then she went back home because she said that she needed to be alone. That she had decisions that needed to be made."

"About Kevin," I stated knowingly.

"Right. Anyway, he'd told her about the car, but she thought he was creating the drama so that she'd feel sorry for him. She didn't believe there to be any kind of threat," she said. She paused for a moment, catching my eye before adding, "Bobby, he's out there right now."

"The guy?" I asked in alarm. "In the red Mercedes?"

"Yeah. I've got to call 9-1-1 and get someone in the vicinity to go to her house, but I don't want them to scare him off, either."

I nodded in agreement as I put on my shoes.

This could be a huge lead for us, but obviously it wasn't worth the risk of Kendra getting hurt.

Would the killer attempt to go into the house?

That wasn't his MO. At least not as we'd been able to determine so far.

So far, he'd attacked two firemen while they were outside of their homes. And of course, the one drug dealer.

_And the whole thing was complete supposition_, I reminded myself.

We really didn't know for sure who or what he was, or who or what he was interested in.

Within three minutes of receiving the call, we were on our way out the door. Alex had her cell to her ear as we hurried down the stairwell.

"This is Detective Alex Goren with Major Case, badge number 5798, and I need a unit to check out 42 Rose Avenue in Floral Park," she said to the 9-1-1 operator.

She went on to instruct them to have the unit stay under the radar if at all possible, and then hung up as we got into the SUV.

"I can't believe she went home," she muttered as she started up the car. "What was she thinking?"

"Her life is a mess right now," I said. "She probably wasn't thinking about much of anything except to wonder exactly when the wheels fell off."

"I know," she admitted. "I know. I just…Kevin told her that someone was watching him, and he asked her to stay away from the house, and then she went right back there."

"She's angry at him," I reasoned. "And hurt. She's probably feels like she's been sleeping with a stranger."

"Do you think he'll do anything?"

"Our guy? I don't know. I don't think so. He's probably watching for Kevin."

"Why?" she asked in frustration as she drove us furiously in the direction of her brother's home. "If he never tries to come in, why just sit out there and watch? I mean, if he's doing recon, he could certainly be a lot more covert about it."

"My guess? He likes the additional fear it causes. He's into more than just killing. He wants to instill the terror that comes from not feeling safe in your own home."

We hashed theories back and forth until we turned onto Crocus. We could see the flashing lights before we even got to Rose.

"Shit," Alex said under her breath. "Do they _not _know the meaning of staying under the radar? They really came in with lights flashing?"

I didn't have an answer for her.

I was afraid that the lights meant something had happened.

As we approached Kevin's house, we saw a black and white parked sideways in the road.

There was debris scattered over the street.

And Kendra was sitting on the pavement talking to an officer who was squatting down in front of her.

Alex brought the SUV up next to the officer's car and then the two of us got out.

"What the hell happened here?" Alex shouted.

The officer stood up and held out his hand to impede our approach.

"Ma'am," he began.

"It's Detective Goren," she corrected, pushing past him so that she could get to Kendra. I quickly flashed the officer my badge.

"We're the ones who called it in," I explained.

"That's right," Alex said, looking at Kendra. "And I told you to stay inside."

"I couldn't," she said. "I'm sorry. But if that asshole is gunning for Kevin then I couldn't just sit inside like a coward."

"Kendra, what did you do?" Alex asked her, and her voice had softened. She knelt down next to her.

"I peeked out the window, and he was just standing there, leaning up against the car, smoking a cigarette. He was being so damn casual that it just really pissed me off, so I got the bat from the closet."

I glanced around and saw that the baseball bat was now lying in the grass next to the sidewalk, and suddenly the debris made sense.

"You hit his car," I stated.

And let me say this about Kendra.

She, without a doubt, belongs in the Eames family.

She was attitude and courage in a small package.

"You're damn right I did," she said, bringing her eyes up to mine. "I would've hit more than his car if the neighbor's dog hadn't started barking. I went out the back door and snuck around the side of the house, but that was when the barking caused him to look in my direction. And let me tell you, he wasn't so casual then. He dropped his cigarette and ran around to the driver's side so that he could get away. By the time I got to the car, he had the engine running, but I got in a few good licks before he was able to get it in gear and drive away."

"Kendra, what if he'd had a gun?" Alex asked, although I could tell that she was impressed. "He could've killed you."

"Maybe," she agreed. "But if he was going to stand around long enough to take aim, then I would've at least had time to give him a broken arm, and then you guys would've known who to arrest."

"Still," the officer spoke up. "You're admitting to smashing up his car. You know I'm going to have to arrest you for vandalism, right?"

"What?" Alex and I asked at the same time.

"She was protecting her home," I finished. "She was trying to stop a stalker."

"Who was on a public street and was attempting to leave," the officer stated.

"He's a killer," Alex insisted. "And where were you during all of this? How long did it take you to show up after I called 9-1-1?"

"He got here a minute or so after the guy drove off," Kendra answered.

"And you didn't try to pursue him?" I asked. "How hard would it be to find a red Mercedes with smashed out tail lights? Now he's gone and he's probably fixing his car as we speak."

"Or stealing a new one," Alex suggested.

"You're not arresting her," I said firmly.

"I can't just let her go."

"There's no one to file charges," I countered. "If he shows up at your precinct and wants to press charges against her, then fine. But until then, it's a moot point."

I went back to the SUV and got out a flashlight and a baggie and then went back to the road.

"About where was he parked?" I asked Kendra, ignoring the officer altogether. She pointed out the location and I searched for the cigarette that he'd tossed.

"Did you get a look at his face?" Alex questioned her. "Or his plates?"

We were pretty sure that the car was the one stolen from Joshua Sabin, but plates would still be helpful. If they were Sabin's tags, then that would confirm that it was his car. If the tags belonged to someone else, then it wouldn't confirm ownership of the car, but it would give us another lead.

"I got both," Kendra responded. "White male, fairly tall, dark hair…you want me to meet with a sketch artist?"

_Yeah, she's an Eames_, I thought with a smile.

"In the morning," Alex told her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm just so…pissed."

"Got the cigarette," I announced as I bent down to retrieve it. I slipped it into a baggie. "So now we'll have DNA."

"What am I supposed to do here?" the officer asked me. He'd lost some of his belligerent attitude, so I decided to cut him some slack. I pulled a business card from my pocket and handed it to him.

"If you need Mrs. Eames because a complaint is lodged, then just call me. I'll make sure that she's at your precinct upon request."

I figured there was no harm in making that promise. There was no way in hell our killer was going to file a complaint.

"Thank you," he said as he took the card. He took a last look around the scene and then went back to his car.

Alex and Kendra got to their feet and I went to fetch the baseball bat.

"You're not staying here," Alex told her. "Why don't you come home with us for tonight? Tomorrow after you meet with the sketch artist, you can go back to your sister's."

"Okay," she agreed. "Thanks. I'm sorry for this. I shouldn't have come here. I just…everything is…"

She trailed off and just shook her head.

"Go on inside and grab what you need," I encouraged. "Then we'll go back to our place and you can get some rest."

"Thanks," she said with a nod.

"She could've been killed," Alex said quietly to me once Kendra was in the house. "I can't believe she did that."

"You would have," I reminded her. "If someone was after me, and you had the chance…"

"If someone came after you, he'd have to worry about a hell of a lot more than broken tail lights," she said firmly.

And of that, I had no doubt.

I also had no doubt that no matter how angry Kendra was with Kevin, she still loved him. Which was a very good thing for him because it meant that eventually she'd probably be willing to try to work things out.

"Risk aside, she's helped us out tremendously. Now we'll have DNA and his car's damaged…"

"And we know that he doesn't carry a gun," she added. "But _he_ knows that she saw his face. What do you think that means?"

Her question was rhetorical, of course.

We both knew what it meant.

Now Kendra would be on his list, too.

TBC...


	26. Chapter 26

**Logan POV**

* * *

Carolyn and I had been all set to help out Lupo and Bernard when we'd gotten a call.

I didn't ask why it was Kristin, Ross' secretary, instead of the man himself. I hoped it was because he'd skipped town like I'd suggested.

"There was a home invasion in Murray Hill," Kristin told me. "And from what I understand, it's pretty gruesome."

"Well then, lucky us," I responded.

I was kind of surprised that we were getting another call-out so soon. There were several other pairs of detectives in the department who hadn't gotten a call since we'd had the floater case. Usually the rotation went around the room.

"Or not," she replied. "The Chief got the call right before he left. He told me to put you and the other Detective Logan on the case. He said something about you two having experience with a case like this?"

A weight formed in the pit of my stomach as the case to which she was referring came to mind. Chesley Watkins. She was a foster mother who had groomed her boys to rob well-to-do homes. And while they were at it, they'd kill the entire family.

And of course, that was when I'd killed a police officer.

I could see it in my mind like it was yesterday.

"Detective Logan?" Kristin asked when I remained silent.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I'm here. Okay, give me the address."

I didn't mention my flashbacks to Carolyn.

Instead, together we went to the home in Murray Hill where a husband and wife along with their three kids had been bludgeoned to death.

"I'd say that it happened around two o'clock this morning," the ME said. And of course, it wasn't Liz. It was another guy, a guy named Rader.

And surely he was competent, but I instantly missed Liz's dry wit and astute observations.

"Who called it in?" I asked the officer on-scene.

"A neighbor. Apparently Mrs. Flynt," he began, indicating the mother who had bled out on the kitchen floor. "Missed a lunch date. The neighbor got concerned and called several times and then came to knock on the door. When she didn't get any answer, she looked through the garage window and saw that Mr. Flynt's car was still at home, in addition to the family minivan."

"That's great," I muttered. "These people were in here for almost twelve hours before anyone got worried enough to call it in."

"Mike, check this out," Carolyn said, calling me into the study. "The laptop is still here. And so is the IPOD. But there appear to be several things missing from the shelves."

I walked over to look more closely at the shelving unit that was encased in glass.

"Not much dust, but enough," I commented. There were a few circular patterns of clean wood where dust hadn't accumulated, which meant that something had definitely been sitting there.

"This feels awfully familiar," she remarked.

I was almost afraid to catch her eye. I specifically hadn't brought up the Watkins case because I didn't want to taint her perception.

"Mike," she said quietly when I still wouldn't look at her. I slowly turned around and faced her. "You already thought of that, didn't you?"

"I…yeah, I did," I admitted. "But I didn't want to skew your opinion."

"Just because it fits the pattern in certain aspects, doesn't mean that she's behind it."

"The whole family is dead and the only items stolen were high-end art."

"But this house isn't for sale. And the family wasn't killed with machetes. Besides, it's way too early to jump to those kinds of conclusions."

"I know."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I insisted. "Let's take a look at the guy's laptop and see if we can find someone in his life who may have had a motive to do something like this."

"Okay," she agreed carefully. "And I'm going to place a call to Child Services."

"Why?"

"I want to find out if the moratorium on Chesley Watkins' foster mother status has been lifted."

By the end of the day, I'd gone through half a bottle of Tums and I'd bitten all of my nails down to the quick.

And it was more than the fact that the case was grisly.

It was that damn Watkins woman.

She'd done a number on me nearly five years ago and it looked like we were going to have to take another run at her.

Because she _did_ have foster sons again.

Four of them, all in their teens. She'd been allowed to reopen her home to them only a year after the investigation.

Carolyn and I had gone to her place to talk to her, but she hadn't been home and so far we hadn't been able to track her down.

"How can Child Services allow a woman like that to take in children?" I mumbled as I sat next to Carolyn on the couch. We had cartons of Chinese food on the coffee table, but neither of us had touched it yet.

Instead, I was working my way through my second Jack and Coke.

"There are more kids than caregivers," she replied as she ran her fingers through my hair. "And we never could get anything concrete on her."

"So it's my fault that she's ruined more kids," I stated.

"No, Mike. It's not your fault. We did everything we could…"

"It wasn't enough. If this is her…if she's behind this again…we have to get her. We can't stop until we catch her."

"I know."

"I mean it, sweetheart."

"I know."

I leaned my head against the back of the couch and she moved her hand around to my face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, repeating her question from earlier. Only this time, we were alone and we were off-duty, and maybe it was time that I answered a little more truthfully.

"I'm not sure."

"Which part? Are you thinking about Tarkman? Or Watkins?"

Tarkman, the officer I'd shot. Of course, I'd been cleared, but the whole thing had been a mess.

"Both, I guess."

"You know what I remember about that case," she said, easing closer to me. Then she leaned in and pressed a kiss against my cheek. I closed my eyes and tried to relax as she repeated the gesture again and again. "I remember you hitting on me in the bar."

I barked out a laugh, but kept my eyes closed.

"I didn't hit on you," I denied.

"You asked me to stay at your place."

"Hey, I said I'd sleep on the couch."

"That's not what you meant and you know it."

"Yeah, okay. Maybe not," I admitted. "But you turned me down flat."

"I didn't want to," she said quietly. Now I did open my eyes to look at her.

"You didn't?"

"No. But the timing wasn't right and I figured that you'd regret it."

"I can't imagine ever regretting it," I replied. "But you're right. My head was in a bad place. You know, I went to see Olivet that night, after you left the bar."

I could feel her tense beside me, so I put my hand on her waist and guided her to sit on my lap.

"Not like that," I continued. "Just to talk."

"And did she help?"

"She told me that sometimes it was possible to do everything right and still have a bad result."

"That sounds like a shrink thing to say."

"Yeah," I chuckled. "And no, she didn't really help. Do you know what did?"

"What?"

"You. You stood beside me and supported me, even when it wasn't the popular choice. It would've been just as easy for you to turn the other way, but you didn't."

"You didn't do anything wrong," she reminded me. "It was just a bad situation."

"Maybe," I agreed with a nod. "And now this case…the idea that she's starting all over again…"

"It might not have anything to do with her. She certainly hasn't cornered the market on senseless violence."

"I know. But we still have to talk to her. As soon as we can find her."

"And when we do, she's going to try to get to you. And you're not going to let her because you're stronger than that."

"I'm not going to let her because I'll have you with me," I countered.

And it was true. It was amazing how much better I felt already just from talking with her about it. I wish I'd said something when I first took the call, but at least I'd gotten it off my chest now.

"You had me back then," she said quietly as she leaned down to kiss me. "You just didn't know it."

"Back then you wanted to cast aspersions as to the size of my couch," I teased.

"Not my smartest moment," she replied. "Because you have the biggest couch…"

She trailed off when I started laughing and she smiled at my change in mood.

"I love you," I sighed, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against my chest.

"Right back at you. And we'll solve this case. If it's Watkins, she's going down. And if it's not, who knows? Maybe we'll stumble across something else she's done wrong. I find it hard to believe that she's on the straight and narrow."

"Her? Definitely not."

"Good. It's settled then. It's past time to get a little justice."

**

* * *

**

Mary Eames POV

I'd had about enough of secrecy from my husband.

Ever since my stroke, he'd been handling me with kid gloves.

And I know that it scared him.

It had scared me, too.

But I was better now.

Much better.

And the idea that he still insisted on withholding information from me just so that I could remain stress-free was absurd.

It's not like I didn't know the man well enough to know that he had a secret.

It was more stressing for me to watch him try to pretend as though nothing was wrong.

I'd just as soon he come straight out with it.

But my hints had gone unnoticed and my requests unanswered.

So I was done being subtle or nice.

When he came home with our oldest son in tow and then tried to play it off that it was because one of the kids was sick and Kevin didn't want to catch it, well…that was the final straw.

Because first off, these were my grandkids he was talking about. And none of them were sick.

Aside from that, Kevin had stayed in his own house when two of them had the chicken pox, an illness that he'd never had which meant it was quite dangerous for him to be exposed to it and yet he'd never batted an eye.

So my husband's excuse was lame at best.

Besides, I know my son.

Something was definitely wrong.

He looked worried and exhausted and sheepish.

Not a good combination.

But I gave him a welcoming hug and then held my tongue while Johnny got him settled in the den.

They talked in hushed voices for nearly an hour before Johnny came up to bed.

"I guess you're forced to sleep up here now that you've loaned out your lair," I told him without looking up from my book. And no, I wasn't reading. Instead, I'd been staring blankly at the pages, thinking about everything I wanted to say to him.

"I was coming up anyway," he answered.

"You've been down there for two nights in a row," I reminded him.

"I've had some things on my mind."

"Clearly. Things to do with Kevin, I presume. Our son."

"No," he said on a sigh, finally picking up on my mood. "And it's nothing you need to worry yourself about, Mary."

I slammed the book closed and got up from the bed.

"Nothing I need to worry about?" I repeated, my voice coming out louder than I'd intended but I didn't back down. "How many times have I heard that over the past several years? And yet I worry anyway. In fact, I worry more when I have to guess as to what's going on. So just come out and say it, Johnny."

"There's nothing to say. I'm handling it," he deflected.

"Like you handled the situation with Alex and Bobby? You almost ran off your own daughter just because you couldn't accept Bobby as her husband. You've known for years that she was in love with him but instead of being happy for her that they finally admitted it to each other, you insulted him and pushed him away…"

"Mary," he interrupted. "I've apologized to him. We've moved past it."

"All I'm saying is that your way of handling things isn't necessarily what's best. You slept on that couch when you got into trouble at work. You slept down there when you were worrying about how you'd been treating Bobby. And now you've been sleeping down there again. So are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I need to go downstairs and get my son to confess? Because you know Kevin. He'll tell."

I followed-up my threat by taking several steps toward the door, but Johnny stopped me with a gentle hand on my arm.

"Don't go down there," he said quietly. "I'll tell you."

"All of it," I insisted. "Not just some half-assed version of the truth that you think will be enough to get me to shut up."

"Okay," he conceded. "Just…let me get a drink first. I'll be right back."

I watched him as he walked wearily out the door.

I was a little nervous about what was going on.

Because it was obviously something big.

But I'd weathered many a storm in my day.

I was married to a cop.

Two of my four kids were cops, and one of those had married a cop. _Twice_.

Aside from that I had two brothers who were retired from the NYPD and of course, Kevin was a fireman.

Danger ran in our family, but so did courage.

And I wasn't about to duck and cover just because there was another storm brewing on the horizon.

I sat down in the window seat and waited for my husband to return.

It only took him a few minutes, and I was surprised to see that he carried two glasses in his hands.

I didn't drink very often, and he knew it.

Since he had fixed me one anyway, that meant that he deemed his news as something that would make me need it.

I held his gaze and took one glass from him.

"What do you want to know?" he said as he sat down beside me.

I took a sip of the Jameson's and waited until my throat stopped burning before I answered.

"Everything. Start from the beginning."

TBC...


	27. Chapter 27

**Alex POV**

* * *

We had a reunion at 1PP.

Thursday morning, Bobby and I walked in with Kendra and found that my dad and Kevin were already there.

And so were Lupo and Bernard.

And Mike and Carolyn.

"Hail, hail, the gang's all here," Bernard said.

"Almost," I replied. "Sean and Hayes are supposed to be here."

"Hayes? Is that the detective who was at your desk yesterday? She's Sean's partner?"

I nodded in answer, but kept my gaze on Kevin, who was trying to catch Kendra's eye.

"It's only seven-twenty," Bobby reminded me quietly.

"What is…why are you…Alex, why is Kendra here?" Kevin stammered.

I glanced over my shoulder where Kendra was lingering a few feet away, but she was studiously ignoring my brother. It was amazing how sometimes adults could be more juvenile than children.

"She's here because she's going to sit down with a sketch artist," I told him.

"Why? What happened?"

"She saw the guy last night," Bobby answered.

Kevin hopped up from the chair and went over to his wife.

"You saw him? Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied shortly. "And I'm fine."

"Tell me what happened," he insisted.

"_You_ happened," she snapped back. "This is your fault. You and your damn drug habit."

Silence reigned as the other detectives in the room briefly stopped what they were doing to surreptitiously check out the drama.

"Okay, you know what?" I said. "Why don't you two go into a conference room? We still have a few minutes before the sketch artist gets here. You can catch up."

"I'm fine right here," Kendra replied with a shrug.

"This is where we work," I reminded her softly. "Please…take a minute to talk in private."

I watched as the two of them went down the hall, Kendra walking quickly about three feet ahead of Kevin.

"He is so far in the doghouse that he can't even see daylight," Mike mumbled.

"He should be," I said.

"Alex," my dad warned.

"I'm not saying that I think everyone should rake him over the coals for what he did, but if anyone has the right to be angry, it's Kendra," I explained.

"So what happened last night?" my dad asked.

"Kendra went back to the house, and the guy showed up," Bobby said. "She chased after him with a baseball bat."

"Nice," Carolyn said. "She's got guts. I like that."

"It was dangerous," I countered, but then I couldn't help but smile. "But yeah, she does have guts. And she got a good look at the guy, too."

"And he ditched his cigarette when he saw her coming, so now we've got DNA," Bobby added.

"Good," my dad said. "It won't be long before you two wrap this case up."

"Hopefully," I agreed. I looked at Mike and said, "What do you guys have?"

His expression instantly went hard and I noticed that he glanced at Carolyn before responding.

"Home invasion," he answered.

"It may relate to an old case," Carolyn explained. "We're following up on our main suspect from five years ago."

"I saw that on the news this morning," Lupo said. "The one up in Murray Hill, right?"

"That's the one," Mike replied.

Further discussion was suspended when Sean and his partner entered the squad room.

"Sorry," Hayes said immediately, although it was just now seven-thirty. "The desk sergeant didn't want to let us in."

"Yeah, some new guy," Sean added.

"I got the other one suspended," Bernard spoke up.

"Why?" I asked him.

"He gave out Lupo's address over the phone."

"Ah, well, good riddance then," Mike said. "It's been great catching up, but we have a psychopathic foster mother to find, so…"

"Good luck," Bobby told him as he and Carolyn left.

"He seems off," I said quietly to Bobby.

"Uh huh. We'll check in with them later."

"So where are we?" Hayes asked.

"We were getting introduced," Bernard said, holding out his hand to her. "I'm Detective Bernard."

"We met yesterday," she replied crisply, although she shook his hand. "Detective Hayes." She let go of his hand and turned back to me, "Now, where are we with the case?"

"Let's go in the conference room," I answered, biting back a smirk at her dismissal of Bernard. "Kevin and his wife are here, so…"

"Kendra's here?" Sean interrupted.

"We'll fill you in," Bobby said, gesturing down the hall. "But we've definitely got some good leads."

"What about me?" Dad asked.

"Aren't you working with Lupo and Bernard?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted reluctantly.

"Then either finish with them or go back to the office. We've already got four detectives on this case."

And that was probably a little rude of me, but I hadn't forgotten about the fact that he'd gone to them for help instead of us.

Aside from that, we already had enough family on the case. If we added him to the mix, it would probably put me over the edge.

So Bobby and I went down the hall, followed by Sean and Hayes. I almost hated to interrupt, but we didn't have a choice. Things had to move forward. They'd just have to find more time to talk later.

And from the look on Kendra's face, I was probably doing Kevin a favor.

"The sketch artist should be here any minute. Come on," I said to her. "I'll get you set up with him in the other room while Bobby updates everyone on what happened last night."

**

* * *

**

Lupo POV

"Only two more days with the brother-in-law, huh?" Bernard asked me as we headed for the car. Johnny trailed along behind.

"Essentially. He leaves Saturday morning."

"Where is he anyway? I figured he'd be with us again today."

"He went with Connie."

"Ah, so he liked the courthouse more than he thought."

"No. But Connie got threatened yesterday, so he's designated himself as her personal body guard."

"She got threatened?" Johnny interrupted.

"It happens," I deflected. "Defendants tend to get pissed when prosecutors do their job. She's fine."

"Are you sure?" Bernard asked me. "We can swing by the courthouse if you want."

"She's not even there yet," I said as I started the car. And then I thought about the descriptive Ben had given of the scene yesterday. A psycho arsonist, yelling at her and telling her that he'd get her. "But yeah, maybe later."

For now, we went in search of Armando.

Bernard and I had come in early to go through his financials and we found that he'd used a credit card to get a motel room on Tuesday, so we were hoping that he would still be there.

"Wasn't it pretty dumb of him to use a credit card?" Johnny remarked as we headed for Brooklyn.

I glanced sideways at Bernard.

Johnny's innocuous question had instantly sparked a new thought.

"What do you want to bet that Allison rented that room?" I suggested.

"She's setting him up pretty good," Bernard agreed with a nod. "Maybe she's not as dumb as she looks."

"She gets him to help her kill her old man and then she plants evidence to make it look like it was all him. To cap it off, she comes to us, acting scared of him."

"So she used me, too," Johnny added.

"To substantiate her lack of motive," Bernard said.

"Right," I said. "By coming to you Monday morning and getting you to talk, you would testify to the fact that she didn't know her affair was busted until then and supposedly, Richard was already dead by that point."

"Supposedly," Johnny stated. "But you don't think he was, do you?"

"No, but we can't get the ME to lock down the TOD enough to debunk her story."

"So we need to find Armando and get him to talk."

"Yeah, but I'm guessing that if this lead was provided to us courtesy of Allison, then we're not going to find him."

By this time, we had arrived at the motel, so we tabled our discussion while we went into the motel office. Using one of Johnny's photos, we got confirmation from the clerk that Armando was in room 212.

"Since Tuesday?" Bernard asked him.

"That's right. I haven't seen him since then, but that's not all that unusual."

"Did he check in with a woman?" I questioned.

"I didn't see one, but that doesn't mean much."

I could tell what he meant. The hotel seemed like the kind of place where rooms were rented by the hour and no real names were used.

Except apparently by Armando.

We walked along the sidewalk and up the stairs at the end of the row.

"Stay back," Bernard told Johnny.

So Johnny stayed at the top of the stairs while we went down the exterior hall in search of room 212.

We both drew our weapons as we neared the correct door.

"Mr. Smith," I said, banging on the door. "NYPD. Open up."

I paused and the two of us listened intently for any sounds coming from inside of the room.

But it was quiet.

"Mr. Smith!" I repeated.

When there was still no response, Bernard and I stepped back from the door.

"You or me?" Bernard asked with a smirk.

"I think it's your turn."

"Nah, Lupes. I think this one's on you."

"Come on, B. You know I did the last one."

Because see here's the thing.

It does actually _hurt_ to break down a door.

If you kick it, and it's a good solid door, the impact reverberates through your entire leg and up into your hip.

And if you shoulder it, well…the same thing only a little worse.

And I was only one month post knee injury, so it was definitely going to have to be the shoulder.

We squabbled good-naturedly for about thirty seconds before Johnny whisper-shouted at us.

"For Christ's sake, _one _of you do it!"

Of course, we probably shouldn't be making light of the situation. We had our guns drawn, so we probably should've taken it a little more seriously, but sometimes this was how we worked.

And it worked for us, so…well, we did rock, paper scissors.

I lost.

"Fine," I grumbled, taking another step back. I decided to spare my shoulder, so I planted my weak leg and used the good one to kick the door open. It took three kicks and then the frame finally gave way.

And that was when the smell hit us.

"I think we just figured out why Armando hasn't been home," Bernard commented as we quickly cleared the small hotel room and then returned our focus to the dead body on the bed.

He was naked and face down on the unmade bed, with the covers around his ankles.

"Looks like smack to me," I said as I glanced at the bedside table. "So Armando OD'd?"

"Maybe."

"His roommate didn't mention drug use," I remarked. I leaned down for a closer look at the body. "And he doesn't have the look of an addict."

In fact, except for being dead, he looked pretty healthy.

"Condom in the trash," Bernard called out from the bathroom. "Two guesses as to whose DNA we'll find on that."

"So she was afraid for her life because he killed her husband, but she meets him in a hotel room for a quickie?"

"Or not so quickie. Make that _three_ condoms," he corrected.

"No other evidence of a woman having been in the room. Men's clothes, shaving kit…"

"What do you think, Lupes? About twenty-four hours?"

"That would be my guess," I agreed, looking back at the corpse.

"She could've killed him right before coming to your place."

"You really think that Allison did this?"

"You don't?"

"I have no idea," I admitted. "We'll get his hands tested for GSR. It should still be there if he fired the gun on Monday morning."

"Uh huh," he agreed. "And we know she's cold. She found her husband dead and then went to a spa without calling the police. It wouldn't be a stretch that she killed her lover."

"By giving him dope?"

"Maybe."

"So she talked her lover into killing her husband so that she'd have his money."

"And then she killed off the one person who knew the truth."

TBC...


	28. Chapter 28

**Bernard POV**

* * *

Lupo made the call to have CSU and an ME dispatched to the motel while I took a closer look at the room.

Five minutes into my inspection, I found something very curious.

"Lupes," I said calmly, turning my back to the item in question. He had just hung up his cell phone, and he looked at me expectantly.

"Did you find something?"

"Maybe," I said in a hushed tone. Because if I was right, I didn't want to let on that we knew.

I walked over to the night stand and gestured for him to follow.

"That fire alarm looks fake," I said quietly.

"So either this place is worried about violating the fire code, or…"

"Right. You keep looking. I'm going up to talk to the front desk guy again," I told him.

I left my partner in the room and headed for the stairs. Johnny was leaned up against the wall smoking a cigarette.

"You know, I could be in there helping," he told me. "I'm an official consultant on this case."

"Consultant," I repeated with a wry grin. "When we need to consult with someone, you'll be the first to know."

"Bernard," he called out after me. "If I was Bobby, you'd let me in there!"

The man had a point. It was possible I was being overprotective of him since he was old enough to be my father.

I paused at the top of the stairs and turned back towards him.

"Okay," I conceded. "You're right. Glove up and go on in."

He hesitated, and I broke into a grin.

"You don't have any gloves, do you?"

"Well…it's just that…"

"Bobby always carries gloves," I told him. "That's why he gets to go in."

"Oh for heaven's sake," he muttered, taking another drag on his cigarette. "Thirty-four years I was with the NYPD. What's a guy got to do to get some respect around here?"

I don't know if his words were for effect or not, but they worked. I gave him a spare set of gloves and then headed down the stairs.

I went into the office and the guy we'd spoken to earlier was nowhere to be found.

I opened a door behind the counter that led to a back office. There was another door along the side of the back office, and I could hear scrambling coming from behind it.

"Arnold!" I shouted because I knew he was in there. I also had a pretty good feeling that my assumption had been right. "Get your ass out here!"

I crossed the office and pulled open the door from the outside just as he was attempting to open it from the inside. He came flying into the room, nearly going down from the momentum.

"Officer, I'm sorry!"

"It's detective," I corrected as I grabbed onto his arm and waited for him to regain his balance. "And what are you sorry for?"

"I…you…um…"

"That's right. I found your camera. Where are the tapes?"

"It's not what you think," he said quickly. "There's so much illegal activity going on at this place, it's like…protection."

"Illegal activity? Like drug use and murder? How many rooms have surveillance cameras doubling as a smoke detector?"

"Um…I think…um…I think I want a lawyer."

"For what? I haven't placed you under arrest!"

"Yeah, but you will. And I just…yeah. I want a lawyer."

"Shit," I muttered as I turned him around and cuffed his hands behind his back. "Fine. Arnold…what's your last name?"

"Feakman."

"Arnold Feakman, you are under arrest for the invasion of privacy."

I read him his rights and then walked him outside to our car and put him into the backseat. Then I pulled out my cell phone.

"I arrested the desk clerk," I told Lupo when he answered. "You and Johnny come on down. He can sit on the guy while we search the office. I'm pretty sure probable cause comes into play here, don't you think?"

"Did he admit to taping?" he asked incredulously. "Isn't he just an employee? I thought for sure he'd pawn it off on someone else."

"He claims it's to help stop crime," I said. "So let's go find out if it works for solving them, too."

A few minutes later, with Johnny standing guard over our prisoner, Lupo and I went back into the motel office.

"That was a good catch," Lupo told me as we entered the room where Arnold had been hiding. "That smoke detector. I'm not sure I would've noticed that."

"I've seen it before," I admitted. "A case a few years back."

"Still."

"So, what are the odds that Arnold hangs onto these tapes?"

"There were three condoms in the trash can," he reminded me. "He's hanging onto the tape."

I chuckled as we searched through the drawers and cabinets until we finally hit pay dirt.

Sort of.

Inside of a cabinet mounted on the wall was a video monitor.

It was turned off, but one tap of the button brought up a divided screen which showed activity in half a dozen motel rooms.

One of the sections showed the dead body of Armando Smith.

The bad news was that there was no stash of tapes, only the one presently recording.

"So…a loop? Or you think he takes them home at the end of his shift?" Lupo questioned.

"We could ask him, but he's already lawyered up. I think we need to go to his home and find out."

"I'll call Cutter and get a warrant."

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

Kendra's description netted us a lead.

"I think I've seen that guy," Kevin said after looking at the picture the artist had created.

"You mean other than outside of our house?" Kendra asked him sharply.

I understood why she was angry with him, but their issues were going to have to be handled somewhere other than the squad room.

"Kendra," Alex warned gently. "Why don't you let me get an officer to take you to your sister's?"

"No," she argued. "I'm staying here."

"You want to work the investigation with us?" Sean practically shouted.

"I'm not saying that," she said, shaking her head. "But I'm not going to run off to Connecticut to hide while someone is after Kevin."

She was ready to flay him alive and yet she wanted to protect him.

I'd felt some of that same sentiment from Alex from time to time. I guess that was what love did to you. Even when you were infuriated by your loved one's actions, deep down you still _loved_ them.

It made it tough to walk away.

"I'll be fine," Kevin said quietly. I watched him as he stared at Kendra, but she wouldn't look at him, so he finally turned back to me. "But yeah, I've seen the guy somewhere else. I can't place him though."

"Someone you worked with? Had a class with?" Hayes suggested.

Kevin had mentioned that he'd taken three qualification classes over the past four years.

But Sabin had never been his instructor.

"I'm not sure," he said on a sigh. He continued to stare at the rendition, but I had to wonder whether he was truly focused on that or if his problems with Kendra were affecting his concentration.

"Detective Goren, this fax came for you," a secretary said upon approach, and she held out a paper to Alex.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"The license plate is registered to Samuel Mitts," she read.

The one that Kendra had seen on the red Mercedes.

"So he changed the plate," Hayes stated. "Does that mean that Samuel is our guy?"

"No, it just means that our guy stole the tags from this Samuel character," Sean answered.

"Look at the address," Alex said as she held out the paper for me to read.

"It's in the same building as Sabin," I said.

"Which makes it even more likely that he stole the tags," Sean asserted. "He took the car and then swapped plates with another vehicle that was parked in the same vicinity."

"So we need to go talk to this guy, right?" Hayes asked, looking from me to Alex.

"We need to go talk to everyone in that building," Alex replied.

"We already did," Sean argued. "Twice."

"Yeah, but you were looking for witnesses to a murder."

"But," Sean began, but a scathing look from his partner caused him to close his mouth.

"You'd be surprised what people remember," I explained to him. "Just changing the dynamic might jog someone's memory."

"Why didn't this Samuel guy call the police when he saw that his plates were missing?" Kendra asked.

Another good question.

And one we'd ask him shortly.

We decided to leave Kevin and Kendra at 1PP under strict orders not to leave the building.

As long as Kevin was a target, I didn't want him going anywhere alone, and since Kendra had seen the killer's face, it was pretty much a no-brainer that she needed to be protected, too.

"Go down to the third floor," Alex had told Kevin quietly before we left. Sean and Hayes were putting out a BOLO on the sketched image and Kendra had gone to the bathroom, so it was just the three of us standing in the hall. "There's a break room down there that's never used. You two will have some privacy."

"Okay. Thanks, Alex."

"The floor's a little hard, but…"

"The floor?"

"For you, getting down on your knees and begging forgiveness," she elaborated. "But I'm sure you'll manage because it's the right thing to do."

"You think I haven't done that already?"

"I think that you have to do it until it works," she replied. "This one's on you."

"I know that, okay?" he asked in frustration. "I just don't know what else I'm supposed to do! I've accepted responsibility, and I've apologized, and I even outlined a plan for how to get back the money I wasted, but…"

"Have you listened to her?" I asked him.

"Have I…what?"

"Have you listened to her tell you how she feels about all of this?" At his silence, I could only assume that he hadn't. "Look, Kevin, I'm sure she's not perfect. No one is. And I have no doubt that there were times where she buried her head to the possibility that something was going on because she's a smart woman. She had to suspect something from time to time. But so far, all you've mentioned is what _you've_ told _her _about all of this. Let her tell you. Because maybe some of her anger is at herself, too, for not recognizing that there was a problem. Or maybe she just needs you to understand how all of this is affecting _her_."

I hadn't meant to say so much, but he seemed to appreciate my insight. And I liked the guy, so I really wanted to help him out of this hole.

"Okay," he said with a nod. "I hear you. Thanks, Bobby."

Sean whistled at us from down the hall where he and Hayes were holding the elevator for us.

"Are you guys coming?" he called out. "Because, you know, me and Hayes can handle it just fine without you."

"Come on, Bobby," Alex remarked. "Boy Wonder is feeling his oats."

So we got onto the waiting elevator and headed down to the parking garage.

"Did you decide to just not talk to Kevin at all?" Alex asked Sean in a slightly accusatory voice.

"I'm trying to keep things professional."

"He could use your support more than your professionalism."

"Is that advice from my sister? Or from a senior detective?"

"From whichever one you decide you want to listen to," she retorted.

Sean held his tongue, which meant that he knew Alex was right, and the four of us headed for the SUV.

It took nearly an hour to get to Sabin's apartment building, but as we were getting out, my phone rang.

"It's Jeffries," I said. "Maybe he got something on the car."

"You are one lucky son of a bitch," Jeffries said when I answered the phone.

"Tell me something I don't know," I replied. "What have you got?"

"That red Mercedes you asked about," he stated. "A shop in the Bronx says that they got one in first thing this morning. The rear end is shattered. And his words, exactly, were _it looks like somebody hit it with a baseball bat_."

"He took it in to get it fixed?" I questioned rhetorically.

Why would he do that?

It had been a long shot to even put the notice out to auto shops because really, why wouldn't he just ditch the car and steal another one?

"He's supposed to be coming back tomorrow morning to pick it up," Jeffries said.

"What's the name on the work order?"

"Joshua Sabin."

Okay, so the guy wasn't completely stupid.

But still…he was going to go pick it up?

"Thanks," I told him blandly as my mind navigated the possibilities.

"That's not the good news, Goren."

"There's more?"

"Yep. The auto shop has security cameras."

TBC...


	29. Chapter 29

**Sean POV**

* * *

Alex and Bobby ditched us at the apartment building.

"We have to go check out this video," Bobby explained. "You guys start knocking on doors. We'll be back."

And without waiting for any kind of confirmation or anything, they were gone.

"Is it just me, or do you feel like the low man on the totem pole here?" I grumbled to Hayes as we entered the lobby.

"We are the low men on the totem pole," she reminded me. "And if you don't quit being such an ass about it, we're going to end up back at the 2-7 where the lieutenant will know that we couldn't work as a team."

Of course, she was right.

But that only made me more surly. I made some sound of juvenile disgust that prompted an instant reaction.

"What is your problem?" she asked me. "I mean, you seem to have this great family where everyone cares about each other and looks out for one another and yet it just seems to piss you off."

"We can't all be happy-go-lucky, glass-half-full kind of…"

But that was all I got out before Hayes had me flattened up against the wall with her forearm to my throat.

"Eames, I swear to God, I'm about five minutes away from requesting a new partner."

"What?" I asked, almost more surprised by her words than by the fact that she'd pinned me so effortlessly.

"I'm serious. Loo took a chance on us by putting two rookies together, and I don't know why she did, but I was fine with it. The whole first week I was fine with it. I think you're a smart guy and have the makings of a really good detective."

"But now you're letting your personal feelings interfere and I'm _not _fine with that," she continued. "You're losing your perspective and your judgment by maintaining a hypocritical and downright childish disposition."

"You're…you…you'd ask for a new partner?"

I couldn't think of anything more humiliating or demoralizing than to have her walk out on me after less than two weeks.

It would be like getting divorced after the honeymoon.

And everyone loved Hayes so guess who would get fingered as being the one who was difficult to work with?

Aside from that, I didn't _want_ a new partner.

She was intelligent and tough and I was already starting to trust her.

Not to mention the fact that, obviously, physically she could kick my ass.

"I don't want to," she clarified as she relaxed her grip on me. "But I will."

She took a step back from me, but kept her gaze locked on mine. Her eyes were very blue and extremely intense, almost Rasputin-like.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Okay, put in a request? Or okay, you'll get your head out of your ass?"

"Okay, I'll get my head out of my ass," I said, unable to stop the chuckle. "Jeez, Hayes, can you focus the hostility on the perps next time?"

She barked out a laugh and both of us headed for the elevator.

As we got out on the second floor, she said, "I'm sorry about…you know, throwing you into the wall. It's just that I think you're a good cop. And I know it's tough dealing with family, but you were letting it get to you."

"You think I'm being too hard on him."

"Professionally? Or personally?"

"Either. Both."

"Yes," she said. "Like I said the other day, at least he's going in the right direction. Be grateful for that."

"It's just that…" I began, and then I stopped myself.

I couldn't believe that I was getting ready to reveal something personal about myself. I mean, I knew that partners were supposed to be close, but we weren't Alex and Bobby. Or Mike and Carolyn. We were just partners.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Eames, this will work better if we're friends. I'm not saying that I'll fill you in on the intimate details of my life or anything, but we should be able to talk about things that are bothering us, especially if it's something that affects how we deal with a case."

"I always looked up to him," I admitted quickly, before I could change my mind.

"He's your big brother," she replied easily.

"Yeah, that, and he stood up to my dad when it came time for a career choice. That took real guts, and Kevin has always had guts. He was always so honest, no matter the cost. And then he goes and does something like this…"

"He still has guts. He called your sister. Do you honestly think that he didn't know she and Goren would get to the bottom of things? It was his way of blowing the whistle on himself. It was him, being honest."

"Maybe," I said thoughtfully.

"And you're pissed off because you feel like he let you down. He was supposed to be perfect. He's not."

"Probably."

"So…"

"So I shouldn't have held him to such an unrealistic standard," I concluded.

"See, I told you that you're smart."

"Uh huh," I said with a smile.

"You need to apologize to your sister, too."

"Alex? Why?" I asked, but then I stopped myself. I knew why. "Yeah, okay, you made your point. Now you."

"Now me what?"

"I shared. Now you have to share. Otherwise it'll just be weird. So what's it going to be? Are you dating someone? Do you have any vices I need to know about? What?"

By this time, we were standing outside of the apartment of Samuel Mitts.

"Later. Now we need to find out why this guy didn't report having his tags stolen."

"I'm going to hold you to that," I muttered good-naturedly as I knocked on the door.

Honestly, I felt better than I had since I first heard about Kevin.

Another reason why Hayes would be good for me. She was apparently the type to call me out on it every time I acted like a jerk.

"Mr. Mitts, open up!" I called out as I pounded on the door. "NYPD!"

After a minute, the door opened and inside was a tiny old man who looked terrified.

"Mr. Mitts?" Hayes questioned. "I'm Detective Hayes and this is Detective Eames. We're with the NYPD. May we come in?"

"Pardon, mais je ne parle pas Anglais," the man replied.

I looked at Hayes and rolled my eyes.

"That's great. A potential witness and he speaks…"

"Bonjour, Monsiuer Mitts. Je suis Détective Hayes," Hayes said smoothly. "Comment allez-vous?"

The old man immediately broke into a grin and invited us into his apartment.

And I have to say, if I weren't so in love with my wife, my heart would absolutely be in trouble.

Because of course, I'd recognized that Hayes was a very good-looking woman.

And she was smart and ambitious.

As I sat on the chair opposite her and Mr. Mitts, waiting patiently while she and he carried on a conversation in French, I realized that she would be quite a catch for any man strong enough to hang onto her.

But of course, I _did_ love my wife.

And Alicia was in no risk whatsoever of losing me to anyone else.

Although maybe I didn't phrase that right in my head.

I don't mean that she's overly lucky to have me or anything, just that I'm completely committed to her.

I'm the lucky one, considering we'd been married for sixteen years and she had yet to come to her senses.

And I probably needed to introduce her to Hayes pretty soon so that she wouldn't worry about me being partnered with a woman. At first sight, Alicia would probably have a minor panic attack considering Hayes' attractiveness, but once they had time to have a conversation, I had no doubt that Alicia and Hayes would become friends.

I focused my attention back to the present as Hayes and Mitts got to their feet.

"Merci beau coup," she told him.

"Je vous en prie," Mitts replied as he shook her hand. Then he shook mine as well before showing us to the door.

"I hope you're going to translate all of that for me," I told her once we were back in the hall. "And I really hope it was nothing important since you didn't translate as we went along."

"Why, you think that old guy is the killer?" she asked with a smirk.

"No," I admitted. "So?"

"He hasn't driven his car in almost a month. He says he prefers to walk or take the subway, so it's just been sitting there in the garage across the street."

"That's mighty convenient for our killer, huh?" I posed.

"That's what I thought," she agreed. "Let's go take a look at it before we start knocking on other doors. It's on the second level near the back. A black Audi."

We got back on the elevator and went down to the lobby and then went outside and across the street to the parking garage.

"So, you speak French?"

"Obviously. Does that count as my personal secret?"

"Hardly," I chuckled. "It's got to be good. I mean, hey…you saw me at my worst."

"Did I?" she teased. "Was that your worst? Or is there more wrath of Sean Eames?"

"Keep it up, Hayes."

"I'm sorry," she said on a laugh. "I just…I think we're going to work well together. I like your sense of humor, and I hated to see you losing it earlier."

"Fair enough," I agreed. "So…"

"Oh my God, you're not going to let it go, are you?"

"I'm telling you. If you don't give me something good, then I won't be on even footing with you."

"There it is," she said, hitting me on the arm and pointing at the car in question. We went up the row and found that there were no tags on the vehicle.

"So our guy knew that Mitts didn't get out much?" she posed. "Or was it just dumb luck that the plates didn't get reported?"

"What if the killer lives in the building?" I suggested. "That would explain how he knew about the car. And it would mean that maybe he knew Sabin."

"But what about Dominick? How would he factor into it? Or Kevin?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Let's call and have a unit come out to get the car dusted for prints awhile we get back to the canvass."

"Okay," she agreed.

I made the call as we walked back to the lobby and then we got on the elevator.

"If you say anything, then I'll know that I can't trust you," she stated out of the blue.

"Say anything about what?"

"I'm not dating anyone," she told me.

"That's a secret?"

"Not that part," she said, shaking her head at me. "But there's a detective at 1PP that I'd like to go out with. Eventually, I might get up the nerve to ask him, but in the mean time, I'm serious. This is a test of trust, okay? And this will balance us back out."

"Okay," I replied, although my mind was going over the possibilities.

Someone at 1PP?

Jeffries? No. Way too old, and just…no.

Whitman? No. He was too into himself. She'd never go for someone like that.

That new desk sergeant? He did check her out when we went in this morning.

"You know what? I changed my mind. I'll tell you something else."

"What? Why?"

"Because I could see you analyzing already, trying to figure out who it is, and I just…I don't know. We're partners, not high school buddies."

"You're over thinking this," I told her. "And if it's going to freak you out so much, don't worry about it."

"Really?"

"Really. I don't want you to be uncomfortable. You'll tell me something when you want to tell me. We don't have to force it."

"Okay," she said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"But you know Lupo's engaged, right?"

"It's not him," she said on a laugh.

We were back on the second floor by now, so we decided to just take it one door at a time, asking each resident if they had seen a man lingering in the vicinity of the black Audi.

Of course, we also had the sketch, so we would show them that as well on the off chance that anyone could pick him out.

"Alright. Let's do this. Detective 101, right?" I asked her, raising my hand to knock.

"Right."

TBC...


	30. Chapter 30

**Logan POV**

* * *

"Detective Logan."

She said my name with such disdain and loathing that for a moment, I couldn't respond.

I just stood there, next to Carolyn, on the front porch of Chesley Watkins' home.

"I thought for sure you'd be in prison by now, considering how much you enjoy killing people," she added.

"That's funny," Carolyn said. "I was just telling him the same thing about you. In fact, prison was the first place we looked."

"I see you haven't learn any manners since we last spoke," Chesley said, turning her focus briefly onto Carolyn.

"I save them for people I respect," she answered.

I silently thanked Carolyn for stepping up since my voice had failed me.

She'd given me a pep talk as we'd driven to Watkins' house on the off-chance that she was now at home, but to be honest, I hadn't expected to find her here.

Her appearance in the doorway had caught me by surprise, but after the initial volley of insults was over, I managed to find my balance.

"What can I do for the NYPD today?" Chesley asked as she once again looked at me, her eyes barely visible over top of her dark sunglasses. "I'm busy, and I can't just stand at my front door all day."

"Busy, huh? You need to find a way to case another house?" I asked her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"How are you doing it this time?" I continued. "Are you using your boys to befriend these rich kids? The Flynt boy was about the same age as your youngest foster son."

"Am I under arrest?" she responded skeptically.

"Not yet," Carolyn told her.

"Then get the hell off my porch. You can come back when you have a warrant."

And with that, she slammed the door in our faces.

"That went well," I muttered as the two of us turned and headed back for the car.

"She was a little touchy, don't you think?"

"I'm not exactly her favorite person."

"But she wouldn't care that we were here unless she was doing something wrong. How do you feel about a good old-fashioned stake out?"

So we moved our car to an inconspicuous spot down the block and we sat on Chesley's house.

"She hasn't changed a bit," I remarked once we were settled.

"Sure she has. She's aged. And she's more worried this time. She always used to let us in the house."

"Maybe it's because she hasn't had as long to groom these boys," I suggested.

"I think that's it," she agreed. "She couldn't have had any of these for more than four years."

"Well, how long does it take to earn undying loyalty?"

"I don't know. She does seem to have emotional blackmail and abuse down to a science."

We were quiet for a few minutes and I was once again reminded of the old days when we were partners.

"You need a garden," I stated.

"What?" she asked, although a smile was playing on her lips when she turned to look at me.

"You used to like to garden. You would always bring fresh vegetables on stake outs."

"You don't forget much, do you?"

"Not the important stuff."

She smiled broadly before turning back to look out the window.

"Which do you think is worse?" I asked her. "Emotional abuse or physical abuse?"

"I'm not sure if that can be quantified," she responded easily despite my seemingly odd question. "I mean, there's emotional abuse involved with physical abuse, so…I don't know. Of course, with emotional, it's easier to stay in denial and it's much harder to prove because there's no tangible proof."

"Huh," I murmured.

Because of course, I was wondering what it must be like to grow up in Chesley Watkins' house.

Was it comparable to my own upbringing?

Or since Chesley didn't actually hit anyone, did that make it better?

Although, my mother never asked me to kill anyone.

Well, not seriously anyway.

There were a couple of times when she drunkenly begged me to avenge her virtue after some sot had left her bedroom while still zipping up his pants.

The first time that she'd told me to get the shotgun and kill the guy who'd been banging her only moments ago, she passed out before I could react.

The second time, she remained steady on her feet, so I'd stared at her incredulously while she spouted off an obscenity-filled narrative of what the man in question had just done to her.

Certainly not things a thirteen-year-old boy needed to hear on any level, much less in association with his mother.

But then, I wasn't exactly your average thirteen-year-old boy.

"_Maybe you should quit fucking losers,"_ I'd suggested to her belligerently.

And yeah, I'd known exactly what kind of reaction my words would inspire.

But it was either that or get the shotgun.

As tempting as it was to do something that would send me to juvie, I wasn't about to do something like _that_.

So instead I endured a beating.

_One of her better ones_, I thought.

She'd hit me until the lights had gone out. I'd come to some time later with blood crusted on my face and a killer headache.

_And _a broken ulna from where I'd reflexively tried to protect myself against the onslaught of blows from the fireplace poker she'd used.

The doctor who put on the cast and stitched up my face bought the story that I'd fallen off a skateboard.

As if I even had a skateboard.

But as bad as that had been, she'd never again suggested that I kill someone for her.

"Where are you?" Carolyn asked softly.

"1974," I answered with a weak smile. Then I shook my head, and added, "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," she responded, reaching out to touch my cheek briefly before movement on the street caused us both to focus on our intended target. "Look who's home early from school."

Two boys were walking up the sidewalk to the front porch of Chesley's home.

"They're in uniform," I commented. "The Child Services records show that the boys go to public school. That looks like…what? Xavier?"

"That school is more than ten grand a year," she replied. Then she turned to look at me again. "And that's where Robbie Flynt went to school."

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

"That can't be our guy."

Bobby and I were in the auto shop in the Bronx watching the security footage from when the red Mercedes had been brought in.

"Are you sure this is the one who brought in the Benz?" Bobby asked the manager.

"That's him," he said confidently. "He said his name was Joshua Sabin. And that's the name on the registration in the glove box. I checked."

I looked at Bobby and shook my head.

What the hell was going on here?

The guy on the footage was dark-skinned, short and fairly husky, as opposed to the tall, light-skinned man that Kendra described.

"She might have been off, but not by this much," I said to Bobby.

"So he got rid of the car."

"Uh huh," I agreed. "And what's the best way to get rid of a car?"

Bobby nodded at me, knowing where I was going.

"Yep. He probably drove it up here and then just left it, with the keys in it."

"And then some fine, upstanding citizen takes the bait and has the balls to bring it in to be fixed. Unbelievable."

"We need to take a look at the car," Bobby told the manager. "Did the guy leave a phone number?"

"Yeah, it's a cell."

"Good. We're going to need you to call him and tell him that his car's ready early."

So we did a thorough search of the vehicle, but it was hard to tell what items were from our killer versus what might have been left behind by Sabin or the car thief.

In the end, we bagged two Styrofoam cups, four candy bar wrappers, half a dozen cigarette butts, and a CD.

"This has to belong to our killer," I remarked as I put the CD in a bag.

"Why do you say that?"

"Running Wild? No one in their right mind would listen to this."

"You know what it is?" he asked me as he took the bag from my hand so that he could look closer at the case.

"It's speed metal," I responded.

He glanced at it quizzically and then looked at me with a grin. "What else don't I know about you?"

"I went through a phase," I replied with a shrug.

"Well, you chose an aptly named band," he quipped.

"That's probably why I liked them."

"They're German. You think that means anything?" he asked, shifting his focus back to the case.

"Only that Germans can make bad music just as easily as anyone else."

I opened up the trunk and looked inside. At first glance, it appeared spotless, but as I bent over and looked closer, I made a couple of interesting finds.

"Look at this, Bobby," I said, standing up straight and gesturing for him to join me at the back of the car.

"What is it?"

"Plastic," I said, leaning back over to point out what I'd found. About a quarter-inch diameter piece of plastic.

"Like sheeting," he said with a nod. "Something a guy might use to wrap a body."

"Maybe," I agreed. "We need to see if we can pull something off of it that matches up against Johnson."

"Or Dominick. He might have had either one of them in the trunk."

"No blood," I murmured as I bent down for another inspection. "But I'd like to see what some Luminol will pick up."

"What is that?" Bobby asked, leaning in next to me.

He was close enough that I could smell his aftershave, and it was almost distracting.

Almost.

But instead, I focused on the item he was looking at.

It was near the back, and looked as though it had possibly gotten caught under the rug, only now it was partially visible.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked him as he stretched to retrieve the item.

And it's a good thing I don't have a weak stomach.

Because it was exactly what I thought it was.

A finger.

"I think it's pretty safe to say that our killer was the one who offed Johnson, as opposed to Dominick being the killer," Bobby said as he held up the piece of flesh and bone that had once been the drug dealer's little finger.

"He cleaned up everything else, but missed that?"

"He would've been in a hurry," Bobby suggested. "He was on the run, in a beat up car that he needed to ditch. He would've probably been in a panic. If the finger was under the rug…"

"I'm actually wondering why it was in here to begin with. I mean, was he really saving them all?"

"He probably tossed them somewhere after he tossed the body and didn't even realize that one was missing."

"Yeah, but you know, if I'm going to cut off a guy's fingers and then throw them in the river, I think I'd take a moment to count to ten, just to be sure."

"Do you have another bag?" he asked me as he continued to hold the finger up between us. I pulled out another bag and opened it up for him. He dropped in the finger, and added, "Okay, so assuming this matches up to Johnson, we can connect the driver of this car to his death."

"Let's hope so. I'd hate to think that there's another guy out there without his fingers."

He chuckled at me and made another visual pass of the trunk while I sealed the evidence bag and added it to our stash.

"So the car was stolen from victim number one," he stated as he stood up and looked at me. "A piece of victim number two was found in the trunk. Potential victim number four did considerable damage with a baseball bat."

"Right. But so far, we've got nothing to connect him to Dominick."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"Although the murder weapons for Sabin and Dominick appear to be the same," he remarked. "That's something."

"Detectives!" the manager called out to us. "He should be here any minute!"

We left the car and headed back into the office where the manager looked anxious.

"Relax," I told him. "All you have to do is stand right there when he comes through the door. Once he's in, we'll take over."

"It's just…you know, I've never reported anything like this. I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do."

"He brought you a twice-stolen car that was used by a killer. Yeah, it was the right thing to do."

"But what if…what if he tells people that I'm a rat? What if it gets out?"

I caught Bobby's eye and he gave me a nod. We could both appreciate the manager's apprehension. He had to live and work in this neighborhood.

At that moment, the door opened, and in walked the man from the video surveillance. He was looking at the manager, but then his gaze shifted to us and he stopped in his tracks.

"Don't do it," I warned him as he eased backwards a step.

And then he turned and ran.

"Shit," I muttered as Bobby and I burst through the door after him.

"Stop! NYPD!"

The man looked back over his shoulder and then proceeded to run head first into a sign post. The impact sent him backwards onto his ass and he didn't bother to try to get up.

"Ow! Fuck, man!"

"I said stop," I told him with a smirk as Bobby pulled him to his feet.

"What's your name?" he asked the man.

"Ronnie Wilson," he replied sullenly.

"Where'd you get the car, Ronnie?"

"It's mine!"

"Then why does the registration say it belongs to Joshua Sabin?"

"He's my friend. He loaned it to me," he amended.

"Let me give you the straight scoop, Ronnie," I said. "Joshua Sabin is dead. That's why we accessed the GPS on his car. We knew that his killer had stolen it, and guess what? It led us to you."

I figured that little tidbit should get the manager off the hook for being a snitch, and at the same time it would let Ronnie know that he was up a creek.

It did.

"Killer? Lady, I ain't no killer!"

"Lady?" Bobby asked loudly, pulling the man's arms behind his back and putting on the cuffs. "She's a detective. You address her with respect."

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I'm sorry…um…Detective. Look, I didn't kill no one."

"Then how did you end up with the dead man's car?"

"I bought it."

"Ronnie," I said, shaking my head. "You know that's not true. And right now you are in way too much trouble to waste our time with lies."

"Nah, man, for real. I bought it off some dude late last night."

"Okay, let's say we believe you," Bobby said agreeably as we walked him towards our car. "Bought it from whom? And for how much?"

"Two bottles of Percocet," he answered. Then he added lamely, "And I swear, I had a prescription."

"Can you describe the man who sold it to you?" I asked, my patience wearing thin.

"Describe him? Yeah. I _know_ him. It's Ace Bentley."

His knowledge caught me by surprise, and it must have gotten Bobby, too, because he nearly cracked Ronnie's head on the doorframe as he shoved him into the backseat.

"Hey, come on, man! I mean, um…Detective, sir! Jeez!"

"Sorry," Bobby said absently as he slammed the door closed. Then he turned and looked at me with a half-smile on his face. "We have a name."

"So now all we have to do is find him."

TBC...


	31. Chapter 31

**Lupo POV**

* * *

Bernard and I drove back to 1PP with Johnny and Arnold Feakman in tow.

Johnny stopped off on the third floor to check in on Kevin and Kendra.

"They'll probably be ready for a break from each other by now," he explained. "Maybe I'll walk with them to the cafeteria."

"I haven't had lunch," Feakman spoke up.

"Shut up," Bernard told him. "You asked for a lawyer, so no talking until he gets here."

I bit back a chuckle at Bernard's attempt to be a hard ass.

I mean, he had it _in_ him to be the heavy.

I'd seen it first hand when he worked for IAB.

But since then I'd seen too much of his real personality to not realize that the hard ass part was all a show.

He was a softie on the inside. A truly nice guy.

The three of us went through the squad room and then Bernard went on to put Feakman in an interview room while I called to make the arrangements to bring Allison Sundberg in for another sit-down.

Our warrant to search Feakman's house was in the works, but we'd decided to take another run at the widow while we were waiting.

And if she'd done what we suspected her of doing, then we might be able to get her to confess.

Bernard came back to our desks after dumping off Feakman.

"Why don't you check in with Connie before we get started," he said as he checked his watch. "I'm sure they're in lunch recess right about now."

"Okay. Allison should be here any minute."

"I'll be sure to make her comfortable until you're ready," he replied with a smile.

So I sat down at my desk and pulled out my cell phone.

"How'd it go with the fire bug?" I asked Connie when she answered.

"He went down in flames," she replied. "What did you expect?"

"I figured it would either be that, or Ben would tackle him in the courthouse. So he's off to prison? And I can sleep at night without worrying about you?"

"He is on a bus for Rikers as we speak. We adjourned at ten-fifteen and the jury was back with a guilty verdict in less than two hours. He'll be sentenced next week."

"Good," I said, and despite the lightness with which I'd handled the topic, I was truly relieved. Threats were definitely not a rarity in our line of work, but that didn't make them any less…threatening.

"Where are you on your case? Ben is ready to ditch me."

"We're at 1PP at the moment, getting ready to re-interview the widow."

"And she's your main suspect, right?"

"I'd bet the farm on it."

"Then maybe it's time for an ADA to observe," she offered. "I might be able to lend a hand if you find yourself in a tight spot.

And I have no idea why, but for some reason her remark caused several dirty replies to pop into my head.

I glanced up and saw that Bernard was still sitting across from me and even though he appeared to be working, I knew he was listening.

So I refrained.

Barely.

"That would be great," I told her. "Thirty minutes?"

"We'll be there."

So I hung up with her and told Bernard that she was on the way.

"Good. We have time to grab a quick bite from the machine," he said as he stood up and reached for his wallet. "What'll it be today, Lupes? Processed cheese or pseudo-chicken salad?"

"Surprise me."

While he was gone, checking out the vending machine, an officer brought Allison through the squad room.

"Put her in interrogation three," I told him as I got up from my desk. And then I shuffled a few papers and corrected myself, "No, wait. I'm sorry. I've got the clerk from the hotel in there. Let's use four instead."

"Sure thing, Detective," the officer responded easily.

I avoided making eye contact with Allison until the last possible second, and the look on her face told me that we were definitely on the right track.

Because why would she care if we had some unnamed hotel clerk in an interrogation room?

Unless she had a good idea of which guy I was talking about.

I had no doubt that at this precise moment she was mentally retracing her steps, trying to decide whether or not she'd been seen.

"She's guilty as hell," I told Bernard when he came back. He tossed me a plastic wrapped sandwich that was bound to taste like cardboard, but I opened it and took a bite anyway. "I planted the seed."

"So what's the plan?" he asked as he sat down and opened a can of soda.

"We lay out our theory and see how she reacts," I replied with a shrug.

"And our theory is that she talked Armando into killing Richard," he stated. "And then she killed him to cover it all up."

"I guess so. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod.

Thirty minutes later, Connie and Ben came into the squad room.

"I've got your search warrant," Connie said, pulling the document from her bag. "Mike said something about video tapes?"

"Yeah, our hotel guy was a real voyeur," Bernard told her.

"Bring me up to speed."

So Bernard and I filled her in on exactly what had happened with our case to date.

"We can deal out Feakman if he's willing to ID Allison," Connie said.

"We might not need to if we get something good on the tapes. The shot that we found in the hotel was a tight frame of the bed which is where the body was found. I don't see her moving him after killing him, so she had to have killed him on the bed."

"We don't know the COD on Armando yet?"

"The ME guessed suffocation, secondary to an overdose," I said. "But it's too soon for confirmation."

"Okay," she said with a nod. "Then let's not deal anyone out just yet. Feakman can sit on ice for a while longer while you two see if you can fake out Allison."

"One-time offer on the two murders?" I asked her.

"Twenty-five to life, with a shelf life of five minutes," she answered firmly.

Connie and Ben went into the observation room while Bernard and I entered the interrogation room.

"It's about time, Detectives," the lawyer groused. "You summoned my client nearly an hour ago."

"We had to get our facts straight first," Bernard explained lightly as he sat down at the table.

"And you do now? Have your facts straight?" Allison asked with a smile.

She'd apparently regained her confidence due to our delayed arrival. Her lawyer must have told her that meant the hotel guy wasn't talking.

"I think so," I said with a nod. Then I looked at Bernard and he shrugged before turning back to Allison.

"Yeah, we think so," he agreed.

"And?" the lawyer asked. "Is there a reason why you wanted my client?"

"Here's the deal," I said. "Starting now, you've got five minutes."

"For what?"

"To confess to the two murders."

"What? Two murders?"

"Accessory in the murder of Richard Sundberg and the perpetrator in the murder of Armando Smith. Twenty-five to life."

"Armando's dead?" Allison asked.

"You know he is," Bernard insisted. "And we know you did it. Because you had the misfortune of picking a motel with a pervert working at the front desk. All of the rooms have cameras, sugar. So you and Armando's three-condom performance will live on in infamy, even if Armando doesn't."

The color drained from Allison's face as she sat back from the table. Her lawyer looked from us to her client and then leaned in to whisper in Allison's ear.

I caught Bernard's gaze and broke into a grin.

This was going to be easier than I thought.

And if we could get her to confess and avoid a trial, then there would be no reason for it to become public knowledge that Johnny had given up privileged information.

The business' reputation would remain intact and we would still have our killer.

And in all honesty, she must already made up her mind to kill Richard anyway, considering how quickly she'd put the plan into action. Johnny's information may have changed the timeline slightly, but it most likely didn't change the result.

Whenever Richard decided to confront Allison, he would've been a dead man.

"Clock's ticking," I said. "Two and a half minutes left."

"You have no authorization to make any kind of deal," the lawyer said.

_Which meant that they were interested_.

"The ADA is on the other side of the glass," Bernard responded. "If your client writes out her statement and allocutes to her crimes, then it's a done deal."

"I didn't kill Armando," Allison said quietly.

"Mrs. Sundberg, please," the lawyer interrupted.

"But you did kill Richard," I said, ignoring the lawyer.

"No. Armando did."

"Because you asked him to. You knew that you were busted. You went to talk to Johnny Eames and he confirmed that he had evidence of your affair. So you called Armando and he met you at your house where he shot Richard in the face."

"Then you turned up the heat," Bernard picked up. "To mess up the time of death. That way, it would look like Richard was dead before you found out about the pictures, and then you wouldn't really have a motive. Because until that point, you were living life high on the hog, spending Richard's money while you boffed young boys."

"Men, Detective," she corrected. "Armando was twenty-three."

"_That's_ the part you want to contradict?" I asked. "Because everything else is accurate, right?"

"Detectives, I need a moment with my client."

"If we walk out of here, I can't promise what the ADA will do with her deal," I warned. "She's a hard ass. I had to beg to get what I got."

"Twenty-five to life is not that special," the lawyer contradicted.

"It means parole possibility in eighteen years," I clarified, looking only at Allison. "Otherwise, you could get sentenced to serve for each murder consecutively. You could feasibly spend the rest of your life in prison."

"But I didn't kill Armando," she said weakly.

"You gave him drugs to make him pliable and then you pushed his face into a pillow," I said firmly.

And yeah, it was a guess, but it was an educated guess.

"I didn't mean to," she said at last. "I just wanted…I wanted him to promise me that he wouldn't talk, but he was panicking and he kept saying that you guys were on to him and that if he went down, he'd take me down with him, and I…I…it was an accident."

"And Richard?"

She held my gaze as her eyes filled with tears, but I felt no sympathy for her whatsoever.

"It happened," she said carefully. "Just like you said."

The lawyer let out an exasperated sigh at his client's confession.

"The deal, Detectives?"

"I'll bring in the ADA."

I stepped out into the hallway, and Connie met me there.

"Very nice work, Detective," she said. Then she lowered her voice, tipping her head close to mine. "But I'm a hard ass? Really? And you had to beg? You're going to pay for that later."

"Promises, promises."

TBC...


	32. Chapter 32

**Alex POV**

* * *

My phone rang before I could get in the driver's side.

It was my mom.

And that was very disconcerting because she rarely called me at work.

"It's Mom," I said to Bobby as I paused outside of the car.

"Get it," he said with a nod, and then he came around to my side and stood next to me while I answered.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked immediately.

"Does something have to be wrong for me to call my daughter?"

"At noon on a weekday? Yes."

"Nothing's wrong," she replied with irritation. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"We just arrested a guy, Mom. I need to take him in."

"You can't spare two minutes for your mother?"

I held back the long-suffering sigh that wanted to escape and then looked at Bobby apologetically.

"Of course I can," I replied as I held his gaze.

He smirked at me and then pulled out his phone, mouthing the words _I'll arrange to get the car towed_. I nodded at him and then focused on my mother again.

"I talked to your father last night," she told me. "And he told me about what's going on. You're investigating Kevin?"

"Mom," I said, and now I did sigh. "It's standard procedure."

"He's your brother. That should count for something."

"It does. It means I know that he's innocent. But it doesn't mean I can ignore protocol."

"So you and Sean are ganging up on him? He made a mistake, Alex."

"I know that," I fired back. "And we're not ganging up on him. We're conducting a murder investigation!"

"Don't take that tone with me," she admonished. "I know what you do for a living. And I also know how focused you can get. You and Sean both. Bobby, too, for that matter."

I took a deep breath and tried to get my temper under control.

"We do get focused. We focus on finding the guilty party. In this case, you and I both know it's not Kevin. But we have to go where the evidence leads. And we had to get the full story from him so that we would know exactly what's going on."

"You emasculated him in front of his family."

"I interrogated him because he found two dead bodies."

"Do you know how much this has crushed him?"

I couldn't blame my mother for feeling protective of Kevin. No parent ever admits to having a favorite, but if my mom were to be honest with herself, Kevin was definitely hers.

I've been fine with that knowledge my entire life, but at the same time, it was hard not to be offended by the idea that she would think so little of me.

"Of course I do," I said quietly. "I've spoken with him at length. I'm trying to help him every way I can."

My mom was quiet for a minute and while I waited for her to respond, I glanced at Bobby again. He was walking back towards me, tucking his phone in his pocket.

"You need to remember that family comes first."

"I know that."

"And that your brother may have slipped up, but…"

And then her voice cracked and she stopped talking. In my frustration, I hadn't taken the time to consider how hard this must be for her. I was actually surprised that my dad had come clean with her. She must have cornered him.

"Mom, I'll look out for him. I promise. We just got a solid lead, too, so this thing may be over fairly quickly."

"Okay," she said, and I could hear her sniffle. "I didn't mean to yell at you, Alex. I just…worry."

"I know. It's going to be fine. Me and Bobby are working on one lead while Sean and his new partner are working on another. And Kevin is at 1PP right now, talking things over with Kendra."

After another minute of offering her assurances, I finally got off the phone.

"Your dad told her, huh?" Bobby asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," I muttered as I got in the car. "I don't know what he was thinking."

"Am I under arrest?" Ronnie called to us from the back seat.

Bobby finished buckling his seat belt and then looked back at him.

"What do you think?"

"I think that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, man."

"I think you bought a stolen car with illegal narcotics," I corrected.

"I guess that's a yes, then, huh?"

"That would be a safe bet," I replied.

"So do I get to make a phone call?"

"When we get there," Bobby told him. "For now, I'm going to Mirandize you and then you're going to tell us what you know about Ace Bentley."

"Yeah, sure whatever. As long as you remember how helpful I am when it comes time for that bogus illegal narcotics shit."

I headed for Manhattan while Bobby read Ronnie his rights.

"I'm going to call Sean," I told him when he finished.

"Good idea."

So I dialed my brother, and he answered on the first ring.

"How's it coming?" I asked him.

"Better, now that you interrupted my ass-chewing from Mom."

"She called you, too, huh?"

"Yeah," he answered, although he didn't sound horribly upset about it. "But Hayes says I deserved it, so…whatever. Where are you guys?"

"We're headed back to 1PP."

"Without us?"

"Are you done?"

"Well, no. But we're on the fourth floor. So far, nothing. Old man Mitts hasn't driven his car in a month, so he didn't even know the plates were missing."

"Well, the killer sold the Mercedes for two bottles of Percocet. We've got the unfortunate buyer with us. And we've got a name. I don't know yet whether or not it's real or an alias, but according to this guy, we're looking for Ace Bentley."

"Are you two going to work him over?"

"Yeah, we'll see what we can get and we'll run the name Bentley, and then we'll come back and get you guys. You think you can finish the next six floors by then?"

"Sure," he laughed. "Piece of cake."

"Okay. Call if you need us."

"Yep," he replied. "And Alex…I'm sorry. Again. I was being a jerk before."

"No problem. I mean, hey, when aren't you a jerk?"

"Ha ha. I'm serious."

"Me, too. It's no problem. Let's just catch this guy so that Kevin can get his life straight."

"Amen to that."

I hung up with Sean and glanced at Bobby.

"He decided to wait for his phone call," he explained, since they'd done very little talking while I was on the phone.

"You're going to lawyer up? Really?" I questioned, catching his eye in the rearview mirror.

"I didn't say I was gonna call a lawyer," he corrected. Then he sat back against the seat and gave me a smug look. "I said I want my phone call."

It felt like it took forever to drive from the Bronx back to 1PP, but we finally made it. Ronnie hadn't said another word for the entire drive.

We led him into the squad room and sat him down in a chair next to Bobby's desk. I uncuffed him and pushed the desk phone towards him.

"Make your call."

Twenty minutes later, I found out why he was so insistent about it.

I was sitting at my desk, trying to find all I could about Ace Bentley. Bobby had made a sandwich run, but he wasn't back yet.

"Ronnie, what did you do now?" a voice called out across the squad room.

I looked up from my monitor to find a blast from the past.

It was Detective Bishop.

"Eames," she blurted out as she skittered to a halt. "I mean…I didn't expect…you're still here."

"It's good to see you," I told her as I stood up from my chair. I didn't bother to correct her on the name. She seemed too flustered just by the sight of me. "You know this guy?"

"He's…um…yeah, he's one of my CI's."

"You're in Narcotics now, right?"

"That's right. I made Second Grade, and I'm…"

"I hate to bust up the reunion, but…" Ronnie interrupted, and then he held up one hand to show her that he was cuffed to the chair.

"So he's an informant?"

"Yes," she said, seeming to regain her focus. "I'm getting close to breaking open a ring of traffickers of schedule two narcotics."

"We picked up your guy for buying a stolen vehicle," I told her. "Using schedule two narcotics as payment."

"I didn't know it was stolen," Ronnie interjected.

"So now Major Case is interested in auto theft?" Bishop asked. I didn't like her sudden change in attitude. It was defensive and almost haughty.

"No, we're investigating a murder. The killer stole a car, used it to transport at least two victims, and then when he was seen in the vehicle, he pawned it off on your guy here."

"I need you to let him go."

"Not until he tells us what he knows," I countered. "He hasn't talked at all."

"I remembered that you told me not to talk to anyone but you," Ronnie said, looking at Bishop and smiling broadly. "Isn't that what you said?"

"That's right, Ronnie," she said to him. Then she turned back to me. "You can interview him, but only as long as I'm in the room."

"Are you his lawyer now?"

"No, but I'm watching out for his best interest."

"His? Or yours?"

"He provides me with information and I…"

"Keep him from being arrested? That's fine when it's small time stuff, but this isn't. This is anything but. He's withholding information that could lead to the arrest of a serial killer."

"Are you pulling rank on me?" she asked as she stepped closer to me.

I couldn't quite figure out what her problem was with me. One minute she seemed to hang on my every word and the next she was hostile.

I knew that Bobby had struggled with her as his partner, but that was a long time ago.

We'd run into each other from time to time since then and she'd always remained aloof, but I thought that was just her.

"You think that your case is more important than mine? Is that it, Eames?"

"It's Goren."

Bishop whipped around at the sound of Bobby's voice. He stood behind her holding our lunch in his hands.

"I should've known that you'd still be here, too," Bishop said, and she backed up a little, as though he was standing too close to her. It caused her to bump her backside into my desk, but that seemed preferable to her than having him in her space. "I was just explaining to Eames…"

"Goren," he said again. "Her name is Detective Goren."

"Wait…what? You two…"

"Where have you been for the past six months?" I asked her. "I didn't think there was anyone in the NYPD who didn't know that we were married."

"I…um…no, I didn't know. I…congratulations."

"Thank you. But in answer to your question, it's not about whose case is more important. We're not going to hurt your investigation by questioning your CI. We picked him up at an auto shop, not on the street, so no one saw him go with us. And now that he's here, it won't hurt for him to talk to us. If he's cooperative, we'll see what we can do about the pending charges."

"So he's your CI?" Bobby asked, skirting around Bishop to stand next to me.

"Yes. I'm close to making a bust, and I don't want anything to…"

"We won't blow your case," he assured her.

She stared at him, hard, and then shifted her eyes back to me.

I tried to get a read on her, but I was still having trouble. I remembered her as being eager to learn and yet also unyielding in her thought process.

That was probably why she had only recently made Second Grade.

"Okay, fine," she said petulantly. "Take him. But if my case gets ruined, the chief will be hearing about this."

"You're going to let them have me?" Ronnie asked.

"This is getting blown way out of proportion," I said, shaking my head. "All we need to know is what you know about Ace Bentley."

"Ace Bentley?" Bishop repeated. "He's who you're looking at as a serial killer?"

"Please tell me that he is not another informant," I said.

"Bishop…" Bobby said firmly. "What is it?"

"I picked him up a few weeks ago. He bought some Percocet off of a dealer I'd been watching. I wanted to flip him, but he wouldn't."

"I didn't find any arrest record on him," I told her questioningly. "Why isn't he in the system?"

"I let him go," she admitted. "I thought he'd come back if I gave him a show of good faith."

"You let him go," I stated.

"Yeah, I…" she trailed off and dropped her gaze to the floor. "I wanted him to help make my case. So yeah."

"Well, since then he's killed two people," I told her. "And he's not done yet."

"I can help you," she said quickly. "I know where he lives."

"I looked it up," I told her in annoyance. "The address listed is no good."

"No, I mean, I _know_. I took him home. You know, good faith."

I glanced at Bobby and felt a rush of energy.

This could be it.

But then she gave us the address and my heart sank.

It was in the same building with Sabin.

The building where Sean and Hayes were casually knocking on doors.

TBC...


	33. Chapter 33

**Lupo POV**

* * *

I turned away from Connie, intending to join Ben in the observation room, but I caught sight of Bobby and Alex out in the squad room.

"We need to get over there," I heard Alex say urgently. At her tone of voice, I changed my course to check in with them and see how their case was coming.

"Lupes, where are you going?" Bernard said as he came out into the hall. "You don't want to watch Connie make Allison squirm just a little bit?"

"Yeah," I replied distractedly. "But something's up."

I trotted into the squad room with Bernard on my heels. I saw a tall redhead with a dour look on her face, a portly guy handcuffed to a chair, and the Gorens, who were scrambling into their coats.

"He's not answering?" Bobby asked.

"It went to voice mail."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Try him again," Bobby said. Then he turned to the redhead. "Are you sure?"

"Am I sure about what?"

"The guy you arrested. It was Ace Bentley?"

"Yeah. I mean, I guess so."

"He had ID?"

"Of course he had ID. What kind of detective do you think I am?"

I didn't know her, but I already had a pretty good guess. She wasn't reacting to any of the urgency in the room, but instead was simply standing still while activity flurried around her.

"Where's the sketch?" Bobby asked Alex. But she had the phone to her ear, apparently waiting for someone to pick up, so Bobby started rifling through the papers on their desks.

"Guys," Bernard said. "We can help. What's going on?"

"Sean and Hayes are canvassing the apartment building where we think our killer lives, only they don't know it. This guy's proficient with a pry axe and he's strong enough to have manhandled a pretty decent sized man with his bare hands."

"And we can't get them on the phone," Alex added as she reached for the only stack Bobby hadn't searched. She pulled a BOLO from beneath the papers and held it up to the redhead. "Is this him?"

"Is that…um…this is supposed to be Ace?"

"Did you try Hayes?" Bernard asked.

"We don't have her number," Bobby answered.

Alex stepped around the desk, still holding the paper out.

"Is this him or not?"

"I don't think so," the redhead answered. Alex then shoved it in the face of the handcuffed man. "Is it him?"

"I'll call Loo," Bernard said as he pulled out his phone.

"It doesn't really look like him, but I can't be sure."

"You can't be sure?" Alex yelled. "You saw him no more than twelve hours ago. Is it him or not?"

"Hey, you don't have to yell at me!" the man spouted off as he tried to get up from the chair.

Of course, he had one hand still cuffed to the chair, but that didn't stop me from putting my hand on his shoulder and shoving him back down. And really, I did the guy a favor, because Bobby was about ready to pounce on him if the man had come any closer to Alex.

"What's the big deal, Eames? So you've got two detectives canvassing. They _are_ detectives, right?" the redhead asked.

"Okay," I jumped in, holding my hands out between Alex and her intended target. I looked at the redhead and continued, "I don't know you, but you're not helping, so you need to back off."

I capped off my statement with a gentle shove on her shoulder and she took several steps back.

"I'm sorry that I don't recognize that picture," she said lamely. "Maybe I'm remembering him wrong."

"I got the number," Bernard said, dialing it as he spoke.

"Let's go," Alex said, and the four of us hustled to the elevator. Alex called back over her shoulder, "Jeffries! Sit on him! He doesn't go anywhere with anyone, got it?"

"Sure thing, Goren!"

"Voice mail," Bernard stated as we got on the elevator. "So what the hell is going on?"

"It might not be anything," Alex said, taking a deep cleansing breath. "In fact, it's probably not. And if it is, Sean knows how to handle himself. I'm sure Hayes does, too."

"They'll be fine," Bobby said. But I could tell that he was worried.

"So you think your killer lives in the building?" I questioned. "What makes you think he's a danger to them? Isn't he focused on firefighters?"

"Yeah," Alex admitted. "That's what we think, anyway. Or it might not have anything to do with firemen. It might be drug-related."

I couldn't stop my surprised expression at her statement, considering that Kevin was involved, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Either way, this guy hasn't shown any trouble killing people and if he feels threatened, if he thinks they're close…it could be bad," Bobby added. "He's already in a panic, and he's most likely strung out. That's not a good combination."

"Any rational reason why they wouldn't be answering?" Bernard questioned.

"Bad reception," I suggested. "Or they're in the middle of questioning someone and didn't want to answer…"

"Right," Alex said with a nod. "That's probably it. And I'm probably over-reacting."

"There's no such thing," Bernard told her.

The doors opened up in the garage and together we hustled to the SUV.

Alex's phone rang as she maneuvered the car out of the parking garage and onto the busy street. Bobby reached over and got her phone.

"It's Kevin," he told her before answering. "It's not a good time, Kevin."

I watched his face as he listened to his brother-in-law and stared at his wife.

"Do you know the name Ace Bentley?" he asked. "Are you sure? Okay, thanks."

**

* * *

**

Sean POV

Despite the fact that I was a grown man and yet I'd had to take a dressing-down from my mother, the day was going along pretty well.

Canvassing a large apartment building is almost like working a stake out, except with more walking.

But it gave me and Hayes the opportunity for pointless chatter and it provided us the chance to feel more at ease with each other.

I mean, she was that kind of person anyway. The kind who made people feel comfortable right away.

But still…being colleagues and being partners were two different things. We needed to know each other's every move.

So we had a little fun with our assignment.

I mean, it's not like our killer lived here. We were just looking for witnesses and after four floors, we'd still come up empty.

So we took turns being the good guy and alternated who would ask which questions.

Bobby had told me once that he and Alex had a whole system down and it had just come naturally. He wandered and analyzed while she asked the straight-forward stuff. Then he'd come from left field and gage the person's reaction.

Hayes and I tried things like that.

Obviously, that trick didn't work for everyone, but I had a feeling that it might work with us.

Only I was the straight-forward one and Hayes was the observer.

I guess directness is an Eames trait.

"Okay, so how do you want to play it this time?" Hayes asked me as we started on the sixth floor.

There were ten floors in this damn building, and my feet were starting to hurt. I wondered idly if I had to keep wearing dress shoes to work or if I could get away with sneakers. I'd have to ask Lupo or Bernard how strict Loo was with the dress code.

"Let's start throwing the suspect's name out there," I suggested. "I mean, we know it. Why not use it? Maybe one of these yo-yos has heard of him."

"Maybe," she said dubiously. "But it could work against us. What if someone has heard of him, but doesn't admit it and then he tips off Bentley?"

"You think too much. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"My ex-boyfriend."

I barked out a laugh as I reached to knock on the door.

"It's a good thing he's an ex then," I told her. "Sounds like he didn't appreciate your intelligence. I wonder if the guy at 1PP will."

"What guy?" she replied with a grin.

"That's what I'd like to know."

"I'm sure you would, just so you can run back and tell him. Or tell everyone at the 2-7 that Hayes has a crush."

"Oh, so it's a full-blown crush, huh?" I teased. "Now I've got to know."

"Knock on the door, Eames."

"I'll be the intense, no-personality cop this time," I said as I banged on the door.

"Yeah, because that'll be a stretch."

"What d'ya want?" a voice called out.

"NYPD, Sir. Open up."

"What for?"

"We need to ask you a few questions."

"About what?"

"Sir, can you open the door?" I shouted.

There were several moments of silence followed by a crash and then the sound of the chain lock being undone.

"What?" the guy asked once he had the door open. He had on a pair of flannel pajama pants and no shirt. His exposed skin was covered in tattoos and he had a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Can we come in?"

"I'm entertaining. What the fuck do you want?"

"There's been a recent crime spree in the parking garage associated with this building and we wanted to see if you might have any information," Hayes said pleasantly.

"Information? As in, did I do it? No, I didn't."

He stepped back into his apartment and attempted to close the door, but I caught it with my hand.

Because one of his tattoos had caught my eye.

"Hayes, what's that smell?" I asked as I kept the man from closing the door.

And I really did smell something, although I didn't think it was anything illegal. Kerosene maybe. Or cleanser. Something pungent.

"I can't quite place it," she replied. "Crack maybe? Are you smoking crack in here, sir?"

"Yeah, officer. You caught me."

"Good," I said, pushing harder on the door, allowing us entry. "And since you just admitted to it, now we have probable cause to enter your apartment."

"I didn't admit to shit," he replied. "It's called sarcasm, dickhead."

"You call it your thing, I'll call it mine. Now sit your ass down," I told him, gesturing toward the sofa. "Is there anyone here with you?"

"Nah. Just me."

"You said you were entertaining," Hayes reminded him.

"Yeah. Myself. You know, a little visit from Pam and her five sisters," he said, offering up the accompanying crude gesture. Then he raked his eyes over her and added, "Unless you're interested in giving me a hand."

"Not even in your dreams," she deflected casually. "So what's your name?"

"I'm thinking it's Ace," I said. "Isn't that why you've got the ace of hearts tattooed on your arm, Ace?"

Hayes reacted to my statement by moving her hand towards the butt of her weapon. I could feel my phone buzzing at my hip but there was no way that I was going to take my eyes off of him to answer it.

"So what if it is?"

"Ace Bentley?" I clarified.

And I could feel the air in the room change. It was suddenly thick, and seemed to slow things down. My heart started thudding a loud, steady beat that I could feel in my ears.

"Yeah, you wanna be my boyfriend or something? What the fuck?"

"We're going to need to take you in for questioning."

"For what?"

"Suspicion of murder."

"What?" he shouted, jumping up to his feet. Hayes pulled her gun and so did I. Bentley ground out his cigarette on the palm of his hand and then tossed it onto the coffee table. "I might be a son of a bitch, but I don't kill people. Except maybe a couple of chicken shit cops."

"Great, okay, we can add more charges," I said with a calmness that I in no way felt. "Turn around and put your hands against the wall."

"Make me."

"Mr. Bentley," Hayes said. "Don't do this the hard way. Just come with us and we can get this whole mess sorted out."

My phone finally quit buzzing but within a minute, during our standoff while Bentley was deciding whether or not to go with us, Hayes' phone started ringing.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Bentley asked.

"I will once you're handcuffed and in the back of our car."

I didn't remind Hayes that we had no car. I figured once we had him cuffed, then we could maybe relax a little, but at the moment, I was wondering exactly where he kept his pry axe.

Because I'd seen the pictures of what he could do with one.

"Call it in, Eames. I'll keep him covered," she told me, since it seemed as though Bentley wasn't remotely concerned about our weapons pointing at him.

I definitely didn't want this to turn ugly, so bringing in a few more officers might be just the thing we needed to get him to do the right thing.

"Eames?"

The questioning voice came from behind us.

I took a large side step so that I could put my eyes on the unexpected new person in the room, as well as keep track of Bentley.

"Are you related to Kevin Eames?" the guy asked.

"Stop right there," I told him as he took a step closer to me. I ignored the knot in the pit of my stomach at the mention of my brother's name.

Instead, I stayed in full cop mode and assessed the situation.

We still hadn't called it in, which was a bad thing.

But so far, we appeared to be the only two armed, although I couldn't be sure.

The new guy had his hand in his pocket.

I saw that Hayes kept her focus on Bentley, so I allowed myself to turn fully to the new guy.

"What am I talking about?" the guy continued. "Of course you're related. Eames isn't exactly a common name. Are you high right now, Officer Eames?"

"It's Detective," I corrected. "And take your hand out of your pocket."

My phone started buzzing again, and now the guy glanced at it.

"Answer it," he said. And then he quickly pulled his hand from his pocket, and I was surprised to see that he was holding a lighter.

_And to think I'd almost pulled the trigger._

"Answer the phone and tell whoever it is that your little fishing expedition here was a bust and that you're getting ready to leave. You don't give them any indication that something's going on here, you got me? And then you two are going to let me walk, or this place is going up in flames."

"From that one lighter?" I questioned. "I doubt it. How about I just shoot you?"

"You could do that," he said with a smile. Then he clicked on the button so that the flame was lit. It was the kind that would stay lit until he closed the lid. "But if I drop this, we're all dead. This place is a treated tinderbox. I rubbed the kerosene into the boards myself."

"Bullshit," Hayes said. "You wouldn't do that to your own place. Especially not with this guy in here. He's a smoker."

"So what? So am I. And I'm also a pyromaniac. Isn't that in my profile?"

She looked dubious, but I was starting to believe him.

And what would happen if this apartment caught on fire? Would we be able to contain it to this one unit, or would it put at risk every one of the hundreds of other occupants in the building?

I wasn't sure, and I couldn't risk it.

So I reached down to my belt and answered my phone.

TBC...


	34. Chapter 34

**Bobby POV**

* * *

We'd relaxed slightly after Kevin's call.

Because maybe we'd jumped the gun.

I mean, who was to say that the car in question hadn't changed hands more than once?

It still could've happened like we thought.

Our guy could've left the keys in it, waiting for it to be stolen. Only Ronnie Wilson hadn't taken it. Ace Bentley had. And then Ronnie had bought it off of Ace.

Which ultimately meant that neither guy had anything to do with the murder.

"It's been really bugging me," Kevin had said. I knew he'd probably been staring at that BOLO ever since we left 1PP. He desperately wanted to help us catch the guy. "I was sure I knew the guy."

"Do you know the name Ace Bentley?" I'd asked him, hoping to maybe jog his memory.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't know who that is, but it's not the guy that Kendra saw. Because I remember now. A while back, he was a client of Johnson. I ran into him a few times, but it's been awhile. His name's Mac Tomlin."

"Okay, thanks."

So I'd hung up with him and filled Alex in on what he'd said. She slowed from an insane speed down to one only slightly above the limit.

"We still can't be too sure," she said. "Keep trying Sean."

So I continued to dial my brother-in-law until at last he picked up.

"Hey, Bob, I was just getting ready to call you."

That was what Sean said when he answered the phone.

His tone was casual, as though we hadn't been trying for the past fifteen minutes to get either him or his partner to answer.

And he'd called me Bob.

_Shit._

"You're in trouble, aren't you?" I asked quickly.

"We're just about to wrap it up," he said. "We'll be back to the 6-1 in about…oh, say ten minutes, give or take."

My mind scrambled to decipher his code.

And just the fact that he _had_ to speak in code at all was causing me to mentally stumble.

Because hadn't we just determined that he was most likely not in any danger?

That if Mac Tomlin was our killer, then Ace Bentley was harmless?

And what were the odds that Mac and Ace lived in the same building, when Ace had randomly stolen the red Mercedes quite some distance away from there?

Unless it hadn't been random.

That thought stormed my brain, but then I had to stop it. I had to focus, because obviously Sean was trying to pass on some information.

I could do this.

He'd said the 6-1.

And obviously the 61st precinct had nothing to do with anything, not to mention the fact that he wasn't going anywhere without a car.

So he'd be back in ten minutes? To the 6-1?

"Sixth floor, apartment 110?" I asked suddenly.

He barked out a laugh.

"How do you know this stuff, man?" he asked. "I mean, anyone in their right mind would've put money on the Heat, and yet you bet on Cleveland. Just goes to show that it takes more than one player to make a team, huh?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but I didn't have to. Sean kept talking.

"Yeah, I guess Lebron got that message loud and clear," he said. I heard a male voice in the background, and then Sean quickly added, "Bob, I've got to run."

And then the call was disconnected.

"He's in trouble," I said to Alex as I set down her phone. She reflexively stepped down harder on the gas.

"Didn't we just decide that he wasn't?" Bernard asked.

"We're missing something here," I replied.

"But he was able to tell you which apartment?" Alex questioned.

"In a roundabout way. And then he started talking about basketball."

"Basketball?" Lupo asked. I repeated the conversation verbatim as Alex closed in on our destination at a nearly frightening rate.

"So both of our guys are there? Is that what he meant by it takes more than one player?"

"Maybe not both of _those_ guys, but definitely more than one. Or at least, that would be my guess."

"We should call the 2-7 and get uniformed back up," Bernard suggested.

"But we don't know what we're walking into," Alex argued. "What if the sight of cops causes the killer to panic?"

"She's right," I agreed. "Tomlin, or whoever, was obviously listening to Sean's end of the phone call. Sean was instructed to deflect attention. We need to go in soft."

**

* * *

**

Sean POV

After talking with Bobby, I disconnected the call and clipped my phone back onto my belt.

"What was all of that basketball crap?" the guy asked me.

"You said to be casual," I replied with a shrug. "I was. And I kept him away, right? So now what?"

"Now you two are going to put down your weapons."

"I don't think so," Hayes spoke up.

"Sweetheart, you don't have any choice," the guy said with a grin. "I've got half a dozen propane tanks stored in that closet right over there. If this place lights up, it'll only be a matter of minutes before those tanks explode. Do you really want to take the chance on being able to put out the flames fast enough? Because you know there's no way you'll get everyone out of this building in time."

"That means you, too," I reminded him. "How fast do you think you'll get out? You set fire to the place, then we may as well shoot you, right? Because at that point, we won't have anything to lose. The way I see it, we're in a standoff."

"You see it wrong," he argued, and as he said the words, he threw the lighter at me.

And I don't mean that he tossed it.

He slung it, and the natural response was to attempt to catch it. Of course, I still had my gun in my hand, and it was a flaming projectile that was heading in my direction.

And I could make excuses until the cows came home, but the bottom line was, I didn't catch it.

It slipped past my fingers and hit me in the chest before starting on a downward trajectory. I continued to reach for it, juggling it all the way down to the floor.

While this was happening, Hayes shifted her focus away from Ace and onto the other guy, who was now making a break for the door.

As she readied herself to shoot, the lighter struck the floorboards and they ignited instantly, creating a line of fire between us and the front door.

She fired two rounds, but the sudden blaze must have altered her aim. The guy was out the door.

We both whirled around toward Ace at the same time, since he was still on our side of the flames and that was when I saw that he'd picked up an ashtray from the coffee table.

"Hayes!" I shouted in warning, and then I aimed at Ace, ignoring the heat that was all around me.

But we were both too slow.

Ace swung the ashtray, catching Hayes in the head. She immediately went down to the ground, perilously close to the line of fire.

I pulled the trigger as Ace went down to his knees to hit her again.

My first shot caught him in the forehead.

The ashtray fell from his hand and he crumpled into a heap on the floor.

"Hayes!" I yelled again as I hustled in her direction. The fire was spreading at an alarming rate, and my mind was in a panic.

I needed to get her out.

I needed to put out the fire.

I needed to sound the alarm.

I needed to call the fire department.

I needed to get the propane tanks further away.

I needed to find the other guy.

I needed…to do one thing at a time.

First priority: make sure the suspect is no longer a threat. So I dropped to my knees and checked the pulse of Ace Bentley.

Definitely dead.

The next concern was my partner.

She was out cold, but she was breathing steadily.

Although that could change quickly if we stayed in with this smoke.

I pulled her further away from the fire and then ran to the closet where the tanks were supposedly stored.

Nothing.

So had he lied about their existence or merely their location?

Most likely their existence.

I couldn't afford to spend much more time in this apartment. The flames were getting higher and the living room was almost completely engulfed. He definitely hadn't been lying about the fact that the wood was treated with accelerant.

I'd never been in a situation quite this frightening before and I suddenly had a new respect for my big brother.

This was what he dealt with every day. The smoke and the blackness and the insanely intense heat.

I ran down the hall, making a quick scan of the place in search of the propane tanks, but I still didn't see anything, so I grabbed a blanket from the bed. Then I hurried back to Hayes and scooped her up, throwing her over my shoulder.

She grunted, which I took as a good sign that she was coming around, but I couldn't afford to take the time to set her down to double check.

Instead I tossed the blanket over her, hoping that it would offer her some protection from the flames, and then I made a mad dash through the line of fire.

The apartment door was still open, so I raced through it and out into the hallway where I set my partner onto the floor and then looked around for the fire alarm.

"Eames," Hayes muttered, regaining consciousness.

"Just stay right there," I instructed as I pulled the red handle. Instantly, the blaring alarm sounded, followed by the onset of the sprinkler system. Then I banged on the door across the hall. It only took a minute before the occupant pulled the door open.

"Did you pull that alarm?" she asked hotly, as though she routinely had to deal with such antics.

Had she honestly not heard the gunshots? Could she not see the smoke?

"Yeah, call 9-1-1," I ordered loudly above the din. "The apartment across the hall is on fire. Do you have an extinguisher?"

She disappeared into her apartment and then moments later, returned with an extinguisher.

"Did you call?"

"They said they were on the way."

"Good. Go outside and wait for the fire department to give you the okay," I told her.

A few more people filtered into the hall, but not too many considering it was early afternoon on a work day.

"Take the stairs!" I heard Hayes call out to them as they made their way toward the end of the hall. I saw that Hayes had gotten to her feet and was now standing unsteadily near the doorway of Bentley's apartment.

"Back up," I told her as I stepped back through the doorway.

I pointed the extinguisher at the blaze, but it was akin to using a spoon to empty a lake. There were no working sprinklers in the apartment either, so they must have been disabled.

The hallway, on the other hand, was a regular monsoon.

Ordinarily, getting drenched while in my suit would not have been all that appealing, but considering that my skin felt scorching hot, the water was actually soothing.

"What about the propane?" Hayes asked me. She stood next to me, once again the consummate professional despite the fact that her head had to be killing her. She had blood running down the side of her face, although the sprinklers were serving to wash some of that away.

"I didn't see any," I replied as I continued to spray the contents of the extinguisher, deciding that it had to be better than doing nothing.

Although the smoke was rapidly filling the hallway and I wondered how much longer we could hold out before we'd have to leave and let the professionals handle it.

"Eames, we need to get out of here," Hayes said. "This extinguisher is never going to do it."

"There's probably a hose in the stairwell," I said suddenly, wishing I'd thought of it sooner. "Go check it out."

She held my gaze for a moment and then took off toward the stairs.

Before she got there, the doors flew open and out came Alex.

"Sean!" Alex called out.

_Only my sister would run _into _a fire_, I thought with open admiration.

_And Bobby_, I amended as I saw her husband follow her out of the stairwell.

And _apparently Lupo and Bernard_, I added with a shake of my head.

"Help me get the hose," Hayes told them. Lupo and Bernard turned around, going back into the stairwell with Hayes while Bobby and Alex came running towards me.

Bobby took the extinguisher from my hands and took over the task while Alex pulled me a few feet away from the doorway.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said automatically. Then I said it again, more to reassure myself than her. "Yeah, I'm okay. I think I breathed in some smoke, but…"

And as if to punctuate my assertion, I suddenly started coughing uncontrollably.

"Get him out of here," Bobby instructed. "He needs oxygen."

"I'm fine," I argued.

"We've got this," I heard, and I realized that Lupo and Bernard were once again in the hall, this time manning the occupant's fire hose. "We already sent Hayes down. Go."

"Bentley's dead. I shot him. He's in the apartment," I told Alex as she walked with me toward the stairs.

"What about the other guy? Tomlin."

"That's his name? I didn't know. He…" I trailed off for a minute because I hated to admit that I'd let him get away. It was frustrating and demoralizing and…yet still the truth. "He got away from us. Hayes shot at him, but I don't think she hit him. Then the place went up, and Hayes got knocked out by Bentley and…"

"Hey," she said soothingly as I stopped on the third floor landing. I was breathing like a freight train and needed to take a break. "You did good. We've got Tomlin on the run now. We'll get him."

TBC...


	35. Chapter 35

**Connie POV**

* * *

I was surprised to find that Lupo and Bernard were gone when I came out of the interrogation room.

"I haven't seen them," Ben told me when I collected him from the observation room. "But very nice work. Impressive."

"Thanks," I replied with a smile. I wasn't too worried about Lupo. After all, he had a job to do.

And more than likely, something else had come in while I was tying up the loose ends on the Sundberg confession.

He'd undoubtedly text or call when he could.

"So is that how you met him?" Ben asked me as we headed for the elevator.

I figured that I would go back to the office for the afternoon, even though Mike had given me some leeway since Ben was in town. I could get a little bit of work done until it was time to catch up with Lupo.

"Lupo?"

"Yeah. Did you swoop in, acting all lawyerly, and tell him what kind of deal he could give his perp?"

I chuckled at his description and shook my head.

"We worked a lot of cases together before anything happened," I said. "And I don't swoop in. I just offer my expertise."

"So what did it for you? How many times did he ask you out before you finally said yes?"

"It wasn't like that," I admitted.

But thinking back over it did bring a smile to my face.

How many times had I blatantly undressed him with my eyes before he'd noticed?

I remembered that day at the 2-7 when he'd finally sensed the intent behind my gaze.

I'd surreptitiously watched him as color flooded his cheeks, and then he'd looked at Bernard, presumably for confirmation of what he'd seen.

But Bernard had been clueless.

"I sort of gave him the green light," I added.

"You asked _him_ out?" Ben asked in surprise. "Consuela! Debería darte vergüenza!"

"Why should I be ashamed?" I replied with a smirk. "I decided that I wanted him, so I went after him. There's nothing wrong with that. And no, I didn't actually ask him out. I just presented him with the opportunity."

"You flirted."

"Of course. Don't tell me you've forgotten how that's done."

"We're not talking about my love life."

"Why not? You don't seem to have any problem talking about mine."

He sighed heavily and put his arm around me as we walked toward the office.

"I like him," he said quietly. "I like him a lot. You did good, kiddo."

And despite the fact that his opinion wasn't going to change how I felt about Lupo, hearing his words filled me with satisfied happiness.

Because I _really_ wanted Ben to see Lupo for the incredible man that he was.

And now it seemed as though he did.

"So what's on the agenda for the afternoon now that I've been ditched by Butch and Sundance?" Ben asked me. "Will we be drafting briefs? Arguing motions?"

"_I_ will be going over witness statements to help Mike get prepped for a trial that starts on Monday," I replied with a grin. "While you sit back and keep your mouth shut."

It was two hours later before I heard from Lupo. He sent me a text.

_**Can you escape early? We are in desperate need of a debriefing.**_

Debriefing was code for hitting a bar.

I glanced at the clock.

Normally, I would've probably had to say no, but since I had the blanket offer of a light work day, I was going to take him up on it.

Lupo didn't usually start drinking at three-thirty in the afternoon, so I had a feeling that something pivotal had happened after he'd left 1PP.

I got up and walked over to Mike's office, peeking my head through the open doorway.

"Is it still okay if I leave early? I finished with Treeling's statement and I proofed your motion."

"Sure," he replied easily. "Is Ben still here?"

"He's chatting up Stephanie," I said with a roll of my eyes. "But don't worry. I'll take him with me and get him out of your hair."

"It's fine, Connie. I'll see you in the morning."

I went back to my desk and picked up my cell phone to reply to Lupo's text.

_**Where? I can leave in five minutes.**_

I gathered my things while I waited for his response.

It was funny how just the prospect of going to see him sent a wave of butterflies through my stomach. I wondered how long that feeling would last.

Was it silly that I hoped it never went away?

_**McNally's. **_

I rescued the paralegal from my brother's relentless flirting and the two of us left the building.

"What was it you were saying earlier about flirting?" I teased him. "You were laying it on pretty thick with Stephanie."

"You had my curiosity up," he said with a grin. "I wanted to see if I still remembered how."

"I'd say you've still got game. Hearts will be breaking when you fly back to Miami."

"So where are we going?" he asked after laughing off my assertion.

"McNally's. It's just down the street. Lupo finished up early and asked that we meet him there."

"That's unusual, huh? Or is it because they wrapped up their case?"

"No, it's unusual," I answered. "Something must have happened."

"Like something bad?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

_Not something too horribly bad_, I decided. We were meeting in a bar instead of a hospital.

But when I opened the door at McNally's and saw the condition of the crew sitting in the back, I realized that a hospital could have very well been the meeting place.

Because they all looked like hell.

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

Somehow, we managed to put out the apartment fire, even before the fire department arrived.

But by that time, we were all sooty and soaking wet and exhausted.

And we had no idea about where Tomlin had gone.

"You should've chased after him," Hayes was saying to my brother as Bobby and I walked up to the ambulance that was parked outside of the building.

Sean was sitting on the curb with an oxygen mask over his face while his partner was getting her head looked at.

"If I'd gone after him, then you would've been trapped in the fire," he reminded her.

"Yeah, but you would've caught the killer."

"Hayes," Bobby interrupted. "Sean's right. His first priority was to get you out of the apartment. And to make sure that no civilians got hurt. Sometimes it means that the bad guy gets away."

"I know," she said on a sigh. "It just…pisses me off."

"The fire marshal says that we'll be able to search the place in the morning," Lupo said as he and Bernard joined us on the sidewalk.

"So was Tomlin living there?" Bernard asked Sean. "He and Ace were there together?"

"That's what it looked like," Sean replied.

"Ace opened the door," Hayes said. "And Sean saw his tattoo. We kind of forced our way into the apartment, but then while we were talking to him, the other guy showed up. So Tomlin…the other guy. What do we know about him?"

"Nothing yet," I told her. "Kevin called us to say that he'd finally remembered him. He'd bought drugs from Johnson in the past."

"I'll put a call in to 1PP and see what we find out," Bernard suggested as he pulled out his phone.

But the call proved worthless.

There was no known address for Mac Tomlin. The preliminary report came up empty, so we'd have to do a much more thorough search in order to get a lead on where he might have run to.

"We should keep an eye on stolen vehicle reports," Hayes said.

"Absolutely," Bobby agreed with a nod.

"And now that we have a name, we can search through the FDNY records," Sean added. "I mean, we still want to know why, right? And who might be next? Because if the guy can't find Kevin, will he go after someone else?"

"It's possible," I said.

"Okay, Detective," the paramedic said to Hayes. "You're good to go. If you get nauseous or start having trouble with your vision, you should get your doctor to check you out. And have someone wake you up every hour or so tonight."

"Sure, no problem," she answered vaguely as she got up from her perch on the bumper. "I'll get my cat right on that."

Sean got up, too, and handed the oxygen mask back to the paramedic. He immediately started coughing again.

"Let me take a look at you. If you've got singed nasal hairs…"

"There's nothing wrong with the hair in my nose," Sean scoffed. "I'm fine."

"Detective…"

"They're both fine," I insisted as I put my hand on Sean's shoulder and walked with him towards the car. "Let's go get a drink."

"Alex, we need to get this guy."

"Yes, we do. And we also need to know when it's okay to recharge our batteries. Right now, it's okay. Tomlin is in the wind. His current stalking victim is under protection and he has no vehicle. Pretty soon he'll steal something. And when he can't find Kevin, he'll start watching someone else. But he's not going to do anything tonight."

"We'll get a notice out to every fire house to suggest vigilance," Bobby added as he joined us near the car. "But Alex is right. It's almost three-thirty. We call it quits, regroup, and come back fresh in the morning."

"And hey, some of our best ideas come during a good debriefing," I added.

So the six of us piled into the SUV and headed for McNally's. We all tried to pretend like we weren't soaking wet and reeking of smoke.

"I told Connie to come," Lupo spoke up.

"Have you guys picked a date yet?" I asked him.

"You're getting married?" Hayes asked.

"Yeah, to ADA Rubirosa," Sean supplied. "I told you that he was spoken for."

I quickly glanced in the rearview mirror and caught Hayes sending Sean a death glare.

"I mean, you know, when you were asking about the guys at 1PP. I mean…not because you were _asking_ about guys, but just because…"

"Eames, just stop talking," Hayes said, shaking her head.

I had a feeling that if she had any room to maneuver at all, she would've punched him. But as it was, she was sandwiched between Sean and Bernard, so she had no room to draw back.

I shifted my gaze over to Bobby in time to catch him biting back a smile.

"That really didn't come out like it sounded," Sean continued. "She wasn't asking about _you_, Lupo. It was just kind of a general question."

"So, Lupo," I said forcefully in an attempt to get my brother to shut up. "A date?"

"No," he said on a chuckle. "We're thinking about September, but it's not definite yet. Although I think I did pass the brother test."

"Oh yeah," Bobby spoke up. "Ben, right?"

"He was with you guys in the squad room the other day, right?" Hayes asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure you'll all be meeting him shortly. He'll be coming with Connie."

"And you got him to like you, even after that little slip up earlier this week?" I asked him, unable to resist the tease. His face immediately reddened, as I'd known it would.

"What slip up?" Bernard asked.

"Oh nothing," I replied with a grin.

"Come on, Lupes. You're going to keep something from your partner?"

"This? Yes. Absolutely."

We got to McNally's and pulled a couple of tables together in the back.

"Don't we need to call the Loo or something?" Hayes asked me as she sat down at the table.

"Normally, I'd probably call Ross and let him know, but he's out of town at the moment. And you two are working under us, so…we're good."

The waitress came and took our order without even batting an eye at our appearance. I figured she was used to us looking beaten and bloody, so wet and smoky wasn't much of a surprise. Connie came in a few minutes later and made the necessary introductions.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Ben asked as he pulled a chair up at the end of the table.

"Our suspect set his apartment on fire," Sean answered.

"And you guys put it out? Doesn't New York have a fire department?"

"If we'd waited, the whole building could've burned down," Bernard explained.

"Still…that sounds kind of above and beyond the call of duty, don't you think?"

"Protect and serve, my friend," Lupo answered. "It doesn't just mean catching bad guys."

"Which is good, because today the bad guy got away," Sean added.

I knew that it was eating him up to know he'd been so close. But he hadn't had a choice.

He'd reacted exactly as he should've done.

"For today," Bobby stressed, picking up on Sean's disappointment. "But his days are numbered."

TBC...


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: I'm feeling a wee bit froggy tonight so let's go for three.**

**Logan POV**

* * *

By four-thirty, I was wiped out.

I'd traveled miles and miles down memory lane today and I don't care what anybody says. A mental journey is just as exhausting, if not more so, than an actual one.

"Let's hang it up for today," Carolyn suggested as she set down the report she'd been reading.

We were back at 1PP and we'd been scouring over the autopsy reports on the Flynt family.

Not exactly light reading and definitely not helpful to my deteriorating mood.

"It's early," I argued half-heartedly.

"And we came in early. It balances out."

She held my gaze, as though awaiting my approval.

Which was actually kind of funny because I had a feeling that if I said no, she'd just pick me up and throw me over her shoulder to get me out of here.

It was almost worth watching her make the effort.

"Okay," I agreed at last. I began gathering the papers from our desks and putting them into a briefcase. "But we'll take these with us."

I wanted to reread my notes that I'd taken earlier. We'd confronted the two boys outside of Chesley's home when we spotted them coming home from school.

"_What's your name?"_ Carolyn had asked in a non-threatening manner. I lingered slightly behind her so as not to appear dangerous.

"_Jesse,"_ the older one said. "_Are you two cops?"_

"_Yes we are, Jesse,"_ Carolyn told him as she pulled out her badge. "_Do you know a boy named Robbie Flynt?"_

The boys looked at each other cautiously before turning back to Carolyn.

"_He was in my grade,"_ the other boy said. _"I'm Lonnie_."

"_Do you know what happened to him?"_ I asked him as I stepped up next to Carolyn.

"_He was killed, right?"_

"_That's right. But now I'm wondering how you know that."_

"_It was on the news," _Lonnie said.

"_Uh uh," _I replied, shaking my head. "_No names were released."_

"_Oh, well, it's all over school,_" Jesse explained as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"_School,"_ Carolyn repeated. _"You two go to Xavier?"_

"_Yes ma'am_," Lonnie said.

I had to give it to Chesley. She taught her boys impeccable manners.

I wondered if they were this polite to Mr. and Mrs. Flynt before they bashed their heads in.

"_Have you been going there long?"_ I asked. _"Because I hear that place is pretty expensive."_

"_Mama says that a good education is the key to success,"_ Jesse spouted. _"And she says we're every bit as smart as those rich kids, so we should get the same_ _opportunities."_

"_Rich kids. Like Robbie Flynt?"_

Jesse shrugged and looked down at the ground.

"_Was he a nice kid?"_ Carolyn asked them_. "Were you friends with him?"_

"_Jesse! Lonnie! You boys get on in the house!" _

I looked down the sidewalk to see that Chesley was standing in front of her house.

"_What did I tell you two about talking to strangers?"_ she chastised as they hustled past her. Then she looked up at us. _"And you, Detectives…the next time you want to speak with a minor, you'd better remember to have his mother present."_

She didn't wait for a response, but instead turned and went back inside of the house.

"_I don't think she much cared for us talking to her boys,"_ I mumbled to Carolyn as we walked back towards the car.

"_Boys. They're practically men. When was the last time you saw a teenager with such good manners? It's almost like they're brainwashed."_

"_Uh huh,"_ I'd agreed idly.

And then I handed her the keys and got into the passenger side of the car.

I didn't feel like driving.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?" I asked, looking up from my desk. I realized that I was still standing in the same spot, with my briefcase in my hand.

"Come on," she said gently. "I checked in with Alex. They're at McNally's. Let's go have a drink."

"I'm not sure if I'm up for company," I admitted as I followed her to the elevator.

"We'll have one. And then if you want to go, we'll go."

Twenty minutes later, we were walking through the adequately crowded bar, headed for the back of the room.

I had no doubt that by now there were at least two, maybe three tables pushed together. It was just now rolling up on five o'clock, but there was just something in the air.

It had been a crappy week for everyone.

"You let me know whenever you want to go," Carolyn said, reaching up to speak into my ear.

Then she laced her fingers through mine and together we crossed the last few feet to where no less than eight of our friends were waiting.

How different were things for me now?

Back in the old days, I'd come to a place like this after a day like today and I'd drink alone, or with some woman I didn't even know. I'd lay a few cheesy lines on the girl and she'd be ready to take me back to her place.

But none of it ever helped.

It was like putting a band aid on a gaping wound.

"Mike Logan," Sean said when he saw us approach. He had a big smile on his face, despite looking like he'd taken a shower with his clothes on. "Just the man I wanted to see."

"And why is that?" I asked cautiously as I found two chairs at a nearby table and pulled them next to the group. Carolyn sat down in one and I sat in the other.

"Because Bobby didn't get my basketball code, but I know you'd get it."

"Code?" Carolyn asked.

"Yeah, I told him that he was smart for betting on Cleveland when they played the Heat."

"The Cavs played the Thunder last night," I corrected.

"I know," Sean said dramatically. "But I needed to say Heat because I wanted to give him the heads up on the potential fire."

"So from you saying Heat, I was supposed to know that our serial killer, who by the way up until this point showed no proclivity for fire, was threatening to light up the room," Bobby retorted.

"No proclivity for fire except for the fact that he kills firemen," Hayes jumped in, defending her partner.

"And drug dealers," Alex added sarcastically, clearly standing behind Bobby.

"You're with me, right Mike?" Sean asked.

"Um…I'm not sure about that one, Sean," I said on a chuckle.

And suddenly the knot in my stomach loosened and my muscles relaxed.

_This _was my life now.

I needed to spend time in the here and now rather than torturing myself by reliving my past.

And I needed a beer.

I waved over the waitress and ordered a couple of drinks and then I kissed my wife on the cheek and whispered in her ear.

"Thank you. This was exactly what I needed."

She smiled in return, and then together we shifted our focus back to the various conversations that were circulating around the table.

"And what was that whole Lebron bit?" Bobby was asking Sean.

"Cleveland wants him to stay away," Sean said as though it was obvious.

"So you were telling us _not _to come to the apartment complex?" Alex asked him dubiously.

"I think I need to hear about what happened," I said, unable to keep the grin from my face. "Because I'd say it sounds bad, but you guys look awfully happy."

"Well, it was bad," Hayes agreed. "But now we know who our suspect is, so I guess that's half of the battle."

"Sometimes," Bernard spoke up. "We knew who ours was almost from the beginning, but we still had to get her to confess."

"That was my dad's case?" Alex asked him. "What was that, anyway?"

"I think maybe we'll let him tell you about it," Lupo said. "What about you two? How's the home invasion coming?"

Carolyn glanced worriedly at me, but I gave her an encouraging nod.

"We think it relates to an old case. A foster mother groomed her boys to steal expensive art. We put a stop to it at the time, but the boys all either wouldn't talk or they ended up dead. We never could get enough evidence to convict."

"And now she's started up again?" Alex asked.

"Uh huh," I said, taking my beer from the waitress as she removed it from her tray. I took a sip before I finished answering. "New boys, new murders. But we'll get her this time."

And I wasn't just saying the words. I believed them. Because no matter how many ways I tried to make it not so, Chesley Watkins reminded me of my mother.

And maybe I'd be able to use that.

"Has anyone heard from the chief?" Lupo asked.

"Yeah, he and the doc are running around on a nude beach in South America," Carolyn joked. Everyone at the table groaned except for Ben and Hayes.

"Sweetheart, what did I tell you about that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said unrepentantly.

"Nude beach?" Hayes asked.

"She's kidding," I said.

"This is the medical examiner you were telling me about?" Ben asked Connie.

"They took a few days off," Alex explained.

"Oh, well I guess you won't be able to meet them then," Connie said. "Maybe when you come back."

"And when exactly am I coming back?"

I watched as Connie and Lupo shared a look.

"Early September," Connie said at last. "We'll let you know soon."

"You know it's tough for me to get away during the school year," Ben argued lightly. "I'm only here now because school is closed for spring break."

"Okay, August then," Lupo amended. "The sooner the better, right?"

"Then why wait at all?" Sean asked. "Just do it tomorrow."

"Nah, I need to give her the chance to come to her senses," Lupo replied. "Kind of like an escape clause."

"So…Logan," Hayes said, leaning across the table to look at me. "Let me ask you a hypothetical question. If you told something to your partner, in confidence, and then later your partner told other people…what would you do?"

"I guess I've always been blessed with good partners," I answered vaguely.

"That's never happened to you?"

"No. But maybe that's because I never shared anything personal with any partner except Carolyn."

And that wasn't entirely true. Lennie had been privy to some of my secrets. But I was determined to focus on the present rather than the past. And not only that, but Hayes wasn't asking so that she could hear _my_ life story. I was curious to hear what she had to say.

"And I never spill secrets," Carolyn told her with a smile.

"Huh," Hayes said, sitting back in her chair and staring pointedly at Sean.

"I said I was sorry," he told her.

"She opened up to you this soon in your partnership and you blabbed?" Connie asked him.

"To them," Hayes said, waving at Alex and Bobby.

"It could've been worse," I said. "They won't tell."

"And them," Hayes added, now pointing at Lupo and Bernard.

"It was an accident," Sean said.

"They won't tell either," Carolyn said. "I'm sure your secret's safe."

"I'm not even sure I know what the secret is," Bernard admitted. "I mean, you said it didn't have anything to do with Lupo, so…"

Hayes sighed and ran her hand over her face.

"Can we move on to something else please?" she asked in exasperation. "I thought this was supposed to be a debriefing."

"That's what this is," Alex explained. "It's a mind break. Sometimes it helps to purposely quit thinking about the case. Because then through the course of casual conversation, we get back around to it, only this time from a different perspective."

"So by sitting here drinking beer we're somehow going to miraculously figure out where Tomlin is hiding?"

She looked at me, so I nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay," she said agreeably. "He's a druggie whose dealer is dead. So he'd go somewhere to find a new source, right?"

"What was he in to?" Carolyn asked. "Coke, like the others? Or something else?"

"Kevin said prescription stuff. Schedule two narcotics. But Johnson didn't have any of that stuff at his house, so I don't know. Maybe he's wrong about that."

I looked at Carolyn quickly and she nodded.

"There weren't any pills at Johnson's?" I asked.

"No," Alex said carefully. "Why?"

"His tox screen read like a pharmaceutical handbook," I told her.

"Andrew called him the drug store cowboy," Carolyn added. "No way all of it was gone from the dealer's house, and no one but the killer would've known that he could get away with stealing it."

"So you think that Tomlin went to Johnson's place and cleaned him out?" Hayes asked.

She was sharp, that one. She'd be a good match for Sean, if he could learn how to keep his mouth shut.

"Maybe," Bobby agreed. "And if he did, then he might consider that as a place to hide out now. As far as he knows, that body is still in the river."

"I'll call it in," Alex said as she pulled out her phone. "We'll get someone to pull the crime scene tape and then have an unmarked car sit on the place."

"See?" I said to Hayes as I tipped my glass towards hers. "Debriefing."

TBC...


	37. Chapter 37

**Bernard POV**

* * *

When we went into McNally's, I'd debated sitting across from Hayes versus sitting next to her.

Of course, I realized the juvenility of that debate. But that knowledge didn't keep me from having it.

Because I've got to say, I really like looking at her.

But I'd sat next to her in the crammed back seat of the SUV and I also really liked the feeling of her leg pressed up against mine.

And I should probably feel bad about my unprofessional thoughts toward a colleague, but right now we were off the clock.

And it's not like I was going to do something stupid like make an unwanted advance or anything.

Especially not after hearing that she had a thing for Lupo.

And I know.

She said that she didn't.

And Sean said that she didn't.

But she'd gotten embarrassed too easily over his remark, so I could only guess that the denial was a sort of self-preservation.

So I wasn't going to delude myself into thinking that I had a shot with her.

But I was still curious about her. I mean, I was friends with Sean now, so shouldn't it stand to reason that I make the effort to be friends with his partner, too?

In the end, I opted for sitting across from her.

I noticed that her white blouse had streaks of black on it, and she had a spot on her arm where the fabric had been singed.

The skin beneath that area was red and I knew that it had to hurt, but she hadn't commented on it.

Her dark hair was still pulled back from her face in a bun, just like it had been the other times that I'd seen her, only now some of it had escaped and was hanging loose.

It was longer than I'd realized, and I wondered idly how she managed to get all of it fixed so neatly at the back of her head. I knew that a lot of women cops did that, presumably in an effort to make their colleagues forget that they were women.

Although I'd never seen Alex do that. Or Carolyn.

And Hayes didn't need to do it either because her skills would speak for themselves.

But she'd learn that soon enough. I couldn't blame her for making the extra effort while trying to prove herself. And I knew that it was tougher for women, despite the department's claim to the contrary.

But looking at that escaped piece of hair that framed her face and fell past her shoulder…well it stirred up the insane urge to see what she looked like when it was all down, maybe just out of the shower.

I shook my head and shoved aside that dangerous thought.

_She has a thing for Lupo_, I reminded myself. And just because he'd never look at anyone but Connie didn't change the fact that he must be her type.

Which meant that I wasn't.

I refocused on the ever-changing topic of conversation. Logan was asking about what had happened with us earlier.

"Because I'd say it sounds bad, but you guys look awfully happy," he said.

"Well, it was bad," Hayes agreed. "But now we know who our suspect is, so I guess that's half of the battle."

"Sometimes," I spoke up. I almost lost my train of thought when she shifted her eyes from Logan to me, but I managed to finish my point. "We knew who ours was almost from the beginning, but we still had to get her to confess."

"That was my dad's case?" Alex asked. "What was that, anyway?"

I let Lupo field Alex's question because I wasn't about to get the old man in trouble.

Next time I'd have to sit next to Hayes. Sitting across from her was much too distracting.

I wondered how Sean managed to work beside her every day without having lascivious thoughts.

But I glanced at him, where he sat next to his partner, and he was laughing and talking without a care in the world.

Although he had a wife at home, so maybe that helped.

I didn't have anyone.

I hadn't had anyone in a very long time.

And being around all of these happy couples was sometimes a little depressing.

Would it kill them to fight in front of me from time to time, to remind me that being with someone wasn't always all it was cracked up to be?

I mean, I had my freedom. I didn't have to answer to anyone. And wasn't that a good thing?

"Has anyone heard from the chief?" I heard Lupo ask.

"Yeah, he and the doc are running around on a nude beach in South America," Carolyn quipped.

I couldn't help but groan at the mental image Carolyn had so cheerfully provided.

There were some things a guy just didn't need to picture.

"Sweetheart, what did I tell you about that?" Logan chastised her, clearly thinking the same thing as me.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied in a tone that said she was anything but sorry.

"Nude beach?" Hayes asked.

And I was almost afraid to look at her.

Because _that_ was a mental image that came all too easily.

And it was much too unprofessional. She'd probably pull out her piece and shoot me right here at this table if she knew where my mind had gone at her innocent question.

_And she's not interested_, I reminded myself again.

It was tough to remember that fact when we were essentially the only two single people at the table. Aside from Ben, I mean. But he was at the other end and had barely spared Hayes a glance.

I finally convinced myself that it was okay to look at her again, so I continued my covert perusal.

Her face was mostly clean, of dirt and make-up, since she'd been doused by the sprinkler system. I'd also seen her use a baby wipe to try to clean off some of the blood and soot after she'd been cleared by the paramedic.

She'd missed a couple of spots, though.

One along her cheek and the other further back, near her ear.

She had a bandage on the side of her head, near her temple, where Ace Bentley had clocked her with an ashtray.

_Just before Sean put a bullet in his head. _

I could picture the scene.

It had to be intense and frightening and yet both of them had done remarkably well. Hayes had gotten off two shots at the fleeing suspect, even through the flames, and then Sean had gotten his partner to safety.

They were going to make excellent detectives. Obviously, they still needed some experience, but working for Van Buren would be great for both of them.

Of course, that meant that as soon as they closed this case, they'd be back at the 2-7.

In all likelihood, I wouldn't be seeing much of her after that, which was probably a good thing.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so consumed by a woman, and hanging around her on a regular basis would likely just make it worse.

Hopefully, it would be out of sight, out of mind, because I wasn't about to be the kind of guy who just sat around mooning over a girl who was never going to look my way.

I tuned into the conversation again when Hayes asked Logan about partners breaking confidence.

"That's never happened to you?" she asked him.

"No. But maybe that's because I never shared anything personal with any partner except Carolyn."

"And I never spill secrets," Carolyn added with a smile.

"Huh," Hayes said, leveling a glare at Sean. Although even though she seemed outwardly mad, she was almost more teasing him about it than really giving him grief.

Those two were going to get along just fine.

"I said I was sorry," he told her.

"She opened up to you this soon in your partnership and you blabbed?" Connie asked him.

Hayes filled them in on how Sean had spoke up in front of all of us in the car.

"I'm sure your secret's safe," Carolyn assured her.

"I'm not even sure I know what the secret is," I said. "I mean, you said it didn't have anything to do with Lupo, so…"

And I don't know why I brought that up again.

Except that maybe I wanted to hear her deny it one more time.

But she didn't. She just sighed and ran her hand over her face before asking to change the subject.

I listened idly as the others talked about the case.

By this point, I was four beers in and I'd decided that maybe I just needed to go to another bar where I could find some company for the evening.

I was only projecting with Hayes.

She was single, physically attractive, and a seemingly nice person.

And I was a lonely guy.

Not a good combination, but it certainly didn't spell love. Hell, I wasn't looking for love anyway.

As Lupo liked to tell me, I probably just needed to get laid.

It _had_ been awhile.

Again.

"Hey, Bernard," Ben said, bringing me out of my introspection. He was standing at the end of the table, having just come back from getting another drink at the bar. He held out a beer towards me and added, "This is from the girl sitting at the end of the bar. She said for me to tell you to come and join her."

"She bought him a beer?" Hayes asked in surprise.

"Some women do find me attractive," I retorted defensively.

"I didn't mean that," she replied quickly. "It's just that…"

"You're sitting at a table full of people," Sean supplied. "How would she know who was with who?"

"Exactly," Hayes finished. "That's all I meant."

"She asked me about him," Ben told them. "She seemed nice."

"And you let her get away with buying someone else a beer?" Connie teased him. "Maybe I was wrong when I said you still had game."

I took the beer from Ben's hand and held it up in the direction of the lady at the bar. She smiled at me, and tipped her head in invitation, but I stayed in my seat and listened as Connie and Ben bantered back and forth.

"You're not going over there?" Hayes asked me.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm with friends," I explained casually.

And because the last thing I needed was to be under a microscope while feeling out the possibility of getting that girl to go home with me.

"He's going to wait for us to leave," Logan said in a mock-whisper. As he said the words, he got up from the table. "Which for us, is right about now. It's been fun."

Mike and Carolyn's departure started a trend and within a few minutes, it was down to me and Sean and Hayes. Alex and Bobby had just left a moment before, with Bobby on a phone call, so I could only guess that was why Sean hadn't walked out with them.

"How's your head?" Sean asked Hayes as she finished her drink.

"I'm hoping that I drank enough to be able to sleep through the pain."

"The paramedic said that you need to wake up every hour or so," he reminded her.

"Eames, I'm fine," she argued.

"No, he's right," I spoke up.

"Oh, what, so are you volunteering to wake me up?" she asked, and I was surprised by her sudden irritation. Did she have a concussion? Was that causing mood swings? "I don't think your barfly would like that too much."

I followed her gaze to where the lady at the bar was staring openly at me.

"Come with me," Sean told her. "You can stay in our guest room. I'm sure Alicia won't mind."

"Yeah, that'll be a great way to meet your wife," she replied with a shake of her head. "Hi, honey, this is my partner who couldn't even withstand a blow to the head without going unconscious, but yeah she's going to be the one watching my back. And oh, by the way, I have to leave our bed every hour to wake her up and make sure she's still lucid. Um…no. Thank you, really. But no."

"I'll do it," I said.

I hadn't expected the words to come out of my mouth, so I was just as surprised as both of them.

Apparently I suffer from a bit of masochism.

But still, it was the right thing to do. She was one of us and she needed help.

It wasn't a difficult choice to make.

"You'll do what?" Hayes asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Do you have a couch?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll sleep on it. And I'll wake you up every hour."

"Thanks, man," Sean said, getting up from the table. "Hayes, you're in good hands. I'll see you in the morning."

He tossed a twenty dollar bill on the table and left before his partner could say another word.

"Bernard, you don't have to do that," she said quietly as she stood up. "I'm a big girl. I'll be fine. I'll just set my alarm."

"And what happens if it doesn't wake you up?" I countered. "That's kind of the whole point of having someone there to check on you."

"But you'll miss out on…" she trailed off and tipped her head toward the girl at the bar.

"I think I'll live," I replied with a grin. "Come on. Let's go."

TBC...


	38. Chapter 38

**Bobby POV**

* * *

"I can't believe she called Ross," Alex said in annoyance as she went through our apartment turning on the lights. "How unprofessional is that?"

"Very," I agreed. I locked the door and then shed my gun and badge. "Although he seemed okay with it.

Ross had called me as we were getting ready to leave McNally's.

"You know, I expected that I'd get complaints about you, but I didn't honestly think that I'd get one in your first week back," he'd said when I answered.

"A complaint?" I'd asked. Someone had actually called the chief while he was on vacation to report something I'd done?

"If you can call it that. I mean, _she_ called it that, but…"

"Bishop," I'd stated. As soon as he'd said _she_, I knew who he meant.

"So you admit to treating her with, and I quote, _egregious disrespect and blatant contempt?_"

"She actually said that?"

"And more," he said on a chuckle. "So, it's my understanding that you arrested her CI."

"Our murder suspect's car was damaged and an auto shop reported that it had been brought in for repair," I explained. "We went to the shop and got the manager to tell the customer that it was ready so that he'd come back to pick it up."

"And that was her CI?"

"Uh huh. Only we didn't know that at the time. He didn't say anything about it, but when we got him back to the squad room, he used his one phone call to call her."

"And then you and your partner ran out of the squad room, leaving behind strict orders that neither she nor her CI be allowed to leave."

"We never said _she_ couldn't leave," I corrected.

"And was that before or after Alex yelled at her?"

"Oh, so the complaint was about both of us. Good. I'd hate to think she singled me out."

"Detective…"

"Chief, we learned that our suspect resided in an apartment building where a canvass was being conducted, only those detectives were looking for witnesses, not the killer. We needed to get word to them…"

"Bobby," he interrupted, and his use of my first name stopped my tirade. "I'm not upset with you. I just wanted to let you know that the complaint was made, and I'd like for you and Alex to write out your version of events so that I have something to back up my decision to ignore her."

"Oh."

"I know. It's hard to believe, isn't it?" he said, laughing for the second time in our conversation. I guess things with him and Liz were going well. "What did you ever do to this Bishop woman, anyway? Is she an ex or something?"

"Ex-partner," I said. "Sort of. I got saddled with her when Alex was out on maternity leave."

"That explains a lot. Okay, well, like I said, when you have the time, jot down your version of events and email it to me."

"Yes sir."

"So what happened when you got to the apartment building?" he asked, switching back to that topic. I filled him in on the events of the day as Alex drove us home from McNally's.

"Sean's okay?" he'd asked. "And his partner?"

"They're both fine. We took them out for a debriefing."

"I'm sorry I missed that. Throw the book at that CI tomorrow. Find out everything he knows about Ace Bentley's habits and whether or not he knew this Tomlin character. Maybe he can point you in the right direction as to where he may hole up."

"Yes sir. And Bishop?"

"I'll deal with her."

"Okay. Thanks."

"We'll be back in town Sunday afternoon. If you and Alex are available, maybe we can have dinner."

I'd hung up with him as we'd entered our building and on the elevator ride up, I'd filled in the blanks for Alex, which had prompted her outburst.

"And you know, what did I ever do to her?" she said as she took off her jacket.

"Nothing," I answered, although I thought maybe the question was rhetorical.

"She actually asked me if I was trying to pull rank on her. When have you ever known me to do that?"

"Never."

"Exactly. I was just trying to explain to her why we needed to talk to her guy. I wasn't trying to flush her case down the toilet. If she even has a case. Besides, she was treating that guy like her boyfriend instead of her informant. And where is her partner? Does she even have a partner? I wonder if anyone can actually stand to work with her, day in and day out. You know, I don't think I gave you enough credit before."

"When I was partners with her?" I asked, and I was having trouble holding back a smile.

I loved it when she got riled up.

And she was most definitely riled.

She'd pulled off her boots and had intermittently gestured with them before tossing them in the vicinity of the front door. Then she'd jerked her sweater over her head and jabbed it in my general direction.

For a second, I thought she was going to throw it at me.

"Are you really going to call it that? Are you actually going to stand there and say that she was a _partner?_"

She finally stopped moving and just stood still in the kitchen, looking at me with a perplexed expression on her face.

I stepped up closer to her and took the sweater from her hand, dropping it onto the floor. Then I wrapped my arms around her, enjoying the fact that even though she seemed annoyed with my choice of wording, she still willingly went into my embrace.

"I'll call her a means to an end," I said quietly.

"To what end?" she asked, her voice now softened as she relaxed in my arms.

"You," I whispered as I brought my lips down to hers.

She smelled of smoke and as I shoved one hand into her hair, I could feel that some of the underneath strands were still damp from the sprinkler system, but none of that bothered me at all.

In fact, it made me think about her fearlessness when she'd come back up to the burning sixth floor apartment with an extinguisher she'd taken from the stairwell. Side by side, we'd worked to put out that fire, along with Lupo and Bernard who were manning the hose.

It had been frighteningly hot and smoky and at first a seemingly overwhelming battle and yet she'd never hesitated to step up to the plate. I could always count on her to be beside me, no matter what.

I deepened the kiss and took my time working my mouth over hers, even though I knew that she was waiting for a more thorough explanation.

"Come on," I said when I forced myself to stop. I took her by the hand and gave a little tug, attempting to pull her in the direction of the bedroom.

"You're going to elaborate, right?"

"Once I get you out of those clothes."

"Is that an order?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Does it need to be?" I teased back.

She stood firm in the kitchen, staring at me with a challenging gaze, so I gave a shrug and then swiftly scooped her up.

"Okay, we'll do it this way," I said as I carried her down the hall. I took us into the bathroom, ignoring her half-hearted protests. Still holding her, I reached in and turned on the shower so that the water could warm up, and then I finally set her onto her feet.

"That's getting to be a nasty habit," she said as I knelt in front of her and began unhooking her pants.

"What's that?"

"Picking me up so that you can have your way."

"You like it."

"Do I? Are you sure about that?"

I slid her pants down her legs and then ran my hands slowly back up so that I could grab hold of her underwear.

I heard her suck in her breath as I slipped my hands beneath the silk and then pulled the garment down to her feet.

"I'm quite sure," I replied confidently as I got to my feet and then finished undressing her.

I loved the way that she closed her eyes as I ran my hands over her as though she was cataloguing the sensation. She let out a long, contented sigh.

"That's because you're so damn smart," she admitted. She opened her eyes and watched me as I took off my clothes and then together we got into the shower.

I turned her around so that her back was to me and then picked up the shampoo and began washing her hair.

"When you were out on maternity leave, and I was forced to work with her, I found myself comparing her to you with every little thing."

"That's natural," she responded.

"No, I mean _every_thing. At first it was job-related things. How many times did I have to explain myself before she understood? How many clues did she miss? How many witnesses did she put off because of her unapproachable style?"

"And then?" she prompted, leaning back into me as I continued to massage her scalp.

"And then it was personal things. The length of her stride. The smell of her perfume. The tone of her voice."

"What about them?"

"Too long. Too overpowering. And too grating."

She chuckled and then stepped under the spray to rinse off. I stood and watched her, enjoying the scene so much that I almost forgot the point of our conversation.

But then she picked up the soap and worked lather into her hands before running them over my skin.

"Keep going," she said.

"That's what I was going to say to you," I replied as I let my eyes fall closed.

She took extra special care with areas that I was quite sure had not been exposed to the fire, but I certainly wasn't going to complain.

"She…um…" I began. "Her being there…it made me realize how much I missed you. And at first I thought it was just about work. I thought it was because you're such a great partner that it was throwing me off to have to work with anyone else."

I'm sure that I was clean by this point, but I turned around to face her and she continued to run her hands over me. I put my fingers under her chin, tilting her head up so that she would look at me.

"And then I realized that it wasn't the work. I mean, it _was_, but it wasn't _just_ about the work. I missed everything about you. And it wouldn't have mattered if she was the perfect woman and the perfect partner. She wasn't you, so she'd never be good enough for me."

I'd told her before about when I'd realized that I was in love with her. But I'd never gone into such detail.

I'd never explained how I almost credited Bishop for making me come to terms with my feelings.

Of course, then I'd spent the next several years telling myself that Alex would never, ever feel the same way.

"You always know the exact right thing to say," she replied, reaching up to kiss me lightly. "Always."

"It's the truth. And then that case, where the one partner couldn't stand the thought of being without the other…it nearly pushed me over the edge. I had to see you."

"That was when I sent you the text about the baby," she said knowingly.

"Uh huh," I answered, kissing her again only this time with more heat. "The whole way over to the hospital, I worked on how I was going to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"That I was in love with you."

"You never said a thing."

"No. By the time I got there, I talked myself out of it."

"You shouldn't have. I was right there with you."

"I know that," I said with a grin. "_Now."_

"That's okay. We got here in our own time."

"Uh huh," I agreed, settling my hands on her waist. Then I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I'm going to pick you up now. If that's okay."

"I was hoping you would," she replied, and before the words left her lips, I had her up and against the wall where I pushed fully into her. "So I should be a little nicer, huh?"

"Nicer?" I questioned, my brain nearly short-circuiting from the pleasure that the feel of her was creating.

"To Bishop. Like you said, she was a means to an end."

"Alex," I chastised. "You need to add her to our list."

"Our list?"

"Of names never to be spoken aloud while we're making love," I rasped out as I slowed down our pace to draw out the inevitable.

"Another very good idea."

An hour later, we were settled in the bed and I was moments away from sleep.

Or at least, I thought I was.

But then thoughts started filtering in.

The stress of the case was taking its toll on us both.

We'd both done a remarkable job of pushing it from our minds for awhile, but it was always there, lurking in the background.

And especially this case, since Kevin's safety was involved.

He and Kendra were both at Johnny's house tonight. I hadn't asked about sleeping arrangements because it wasn't any of my business, but I was glad to hear that at least Kendra was keeping the lines of communication open.

And we had Tomlin on the run.

We had posted a standing request to be notified about any stolen vehicles.

We had an unmarked unit sitting on Johnson's place.

And in the morning, we'd be able to go through the burned out apartment.

Surely we'd be able to get our hands on him soon. And then Kevin and Kendra could get started putting their lives back together.

At some point, I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew, the phone was ringing and Alex was cursing.

"Goren!" I heard her shout into the phone.

I idly thought that maybe I should move the phone to my side of the bed. I didn't like being awakened either, but I wasn't quite so vocal about it.

"What? Where? Okay. Okay. Yeah, thanks."

"What is it?" I asked when she hung up.

"A dead body in Hell's Kitchen," she answered.

My heart sank as I assimilated this new fact along with the knowledge that _we'd _been called. Because we weren't on the call-out list since we were presently working a case.

"So it's…"

"Uh huh. Another firefighter."

TBC...


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: Three again today, since Pot of Coffee asked me soooooo nicely. **

**Carolyn POV**

* * *

I woke up suddenly and I couldn't explain why.

I hated that feeling.

It was like my subconscious had heard something, or sensed something, but now that my eyes were open, the source was eluding me.

I stayed still for several minutes, just listening to the silence.

When I heard nothing out of the ordinary, I rolled over and looked at the clock.

Three-fifteen.

Knowing how my mind works, I only had a fifty-fifty shot of actually going back to sleep at this point, but I was willing to try.

I scooted across the bed, seeking out Mike's warmth.

It was unusual that he wasn't touching me in some way, even in sleep, so it was even odder that I had to move all the way to the other side.

He was lying right on the edge, with his back to me, and when I slid my hand around to rest against his chest, I was surprised to find that he was sweaty. If anything, it was slightly cool in the room.

I continued to run my hand over his skin, finding a sheen of wetness all across his body.

Even his hair was damp, but his head wasn't warm. He didn't have a fever.

Which meant that he'd had a nightmare.

"If you're going to feel me up, the least you could do was make sure I was awake enough to enjoy it," he rumbled, his voice low and husky with sleep.

Should I call him out on it?

Or let it pass?

He might not even remember it.

Although now I had an idea of what had awakened me.

He must have called out in his sleep.

"Are you awake now?" I responded as I ran my hand down his arm and then over his hip. He flinched slightly when my fingers trailed over the length of him, but then he shifted slightly to give me better access.

"Uh huh."

"Good," I murmured. I pressed myself fully against his back and added, "Then enjoy this."

He didn't question why I was feeling amorous at three-fifteen.

That fact alone told me that he most likely did remember his nightmare.

But for now, I was willing to let him talk about it at his own pace.

I'd expected the nightmares to come because of this damn case.

The first time we'd run across her, back in the old days, I'd _almost_ gone against my own vow to not get romantically involved with Mike.

Of course, I'd obviously done that _now_, but at the time, I was still fooling myself by thinking it was just a crush.

A phase of lust without emotion.

And that case had been so hard on him, and he'd seemed so…_sad_, that I'd still almost gone to him.

To try to make him feel better.

But it would've been a mistake, and now I was glad that I hadn't.

But I was also very glad that I could help to ease his stress now.

And by the sounds that he was making, I'd say that at the moment he was very _un_stressed.

"Why are you so good to me?" he whispered as he turned onto his back and wrapped his arm around me. I continued moving my hand along the length of him as I reached up to press my lips against his cheek.

"Because I love you," I said softly against his skin.

"But…why?"

The confused sincerity of his question nearly broke my heart.

It also told me what his nightmare had been about.

Not Chesley Watkins, with her quietly creepy confidence in her boys' eternal commitment to her.

But Shannon Logan, with her skillfully sharp tongue that unerringly stripped her son of his self-confidence.

I could study psychology until my dying day and I would still never understand what would make a mother turn on her child like that.

Although _turn on_ maybe wasn't the right way to say it. That would indicate that there had been a time when she'd shown him love. And I'm not sure if there was ever such a time.

"Because you're you," I told him as I moved over top of him.

I hadn't planned on making love. My intent had just been to please him. But I could tell that he needed more.

And I wanted to give him more.

I wanted to give him back his self-assurance that, even long-dead, his mother still had the ability to take away.

So I slowly made love to him in the dark, all the while telling him exactly what was so wonderful about Mike Logan.

I had no shortage of things to say. And I didn't have to make anything up. I think he's a remarkable man, and I have no problem telling him so.

And when he suddenly tightened his grip on my thighs, and then rolled us over so that he could take over the pace…that was when I knew that I was getting through to him.

Funny how sometimes a dream could really take a hold of a person, but I was thrilled to know that it didn't take much to get him back.

And in the light of day, he would realize that he'd been wrong to doubt himself.

But in the dark…well, that was tough. I knew that first hand.

"It used to take you days to restore my confidence," he said after we'd finished and he lay heavily on top of me. "You've got that down to a science now."

"It's a good thing. I'm not sure you have the stamina for that anymore," I teased.

"Are you questioning my staying power?" he asked, lifting his head enough to look at me. "Because I can be ready again in another minute."

Oh yeah, he was back.

I smiled broadly and then kissed him.

"I know you can," I agreed. "But we need some more sleep."

"You're choosing sleep over making love? I must be doing something wrong."

"You do everything right," I countered as I slid my hands into his still-damp hair and kissed him again.

"Yeah, well you're not too bad yourself," he answered. He moved off of me, but this time he stayed close, pulling me up against his side. "And thank you."

I didn't have to ask what for.

"That was a good one," he said quietly after another minute. I was glad that I didn't have to prompt him to talk. It was another example of how far he'd come. "You know, you would think that by now, I'd be completely past it."

"Past being affected by your childhood? Honey, I don't think anyone ever gets past that. It's always there somewhere, even in those of us who had a relatively normal upbringing."

"Like what?" he asked as he stroked his hand soothingly over my back.

"You want to know about something from my childhood?"

"Uh huh. I'm trying to picture you. You know, we've been together for more than a year, but I've never seen pictures of you as a kid."

"I'm quite sure that I burned them all," I said on a chuckle.

Which of course, wasn't true.

I had boxes of things in a storage unit that I'd never brought myself to weed out. Possessions that had been cleaned out of my parents' home after their death. And things from my sister's place, too. And my brother's.

But I'd never wanted to look through them, so instead I simply paid the bill each year.

"I was an awkward child," I told him.

"I don't believe that."

"No, really. I was. And I spent most of my time alone. What can I say? I liked books better than people. I was very rarely ever disappointed by a book."

"But you were by people?"

"Not really, but for some reason, I had this fear that I would be. I'm not sure why. My mother was a sweet woman. She loved us and took good care of us, but she never really understood me. And I couldn't understand her. I couldn't understand her dependency on my father."

"She let him make the tough decisions, huh?"

"She let him make all of the decisions," I corrected. "I mean, _every_ one. We would go to a restaurant, and she'd ask him what she should order. It drove me crazy. I made up my mind that no one was ever going to tell me what to do. Every decision, whether it was good or bad, was going to be _mine_. It's probably gotten me into trouble from time to time. It's certainly why I couldn't keep a partner at the Bureau."

"So that's what you carry with you," he said in understanding.

"Yeah, I guess so. Although you kind of screwed that up for me," I teased.

"Sweetheart, I would never dare try to make a decision for you," he argued lightly. "I like my face intact, just like it is."

"I know. But I think about you when I make decisions that may affect you. And I never did that before. I never cared about anyone enough to take into account their feelings."

"Which means you've moved past it."

"Not really. It's still there. It's still my first reaction. Just like your first reaction is to believe every lie your mother ever told you. But what you did next…that's what makes the difference. You reached out to me. And you listened to what I was saying. And you believed."

"So I did good," he said, slightly hesitant and yet hopeful at the same time.

I'd seen one picture of him as a boy.

In it, he looked to be about nine, with too-long hair and haunted eyes. I could easily imagine that boy saying those exact same words, looking for approval.

Seeking affirmation of worth, but never getting it.

"You did good," I told him, pressing my lips against his chest. He squeezed me tighter and let out a heavy sigh.

"So what do you think of Sean's partner?" he asked after a few minutes of quiet.

"Hayes? I like her."

"Uh huh. She seems like a good match for Sean."

"I think she'll be a good match for Bernard, too."

"What?" he asked in surprise, his voice suddenly loud in the still-dark room.

"You didn't see the way that he was looking at her?"

"She's an attractive woman. He was looking. It doesn't have to mean anything."

"No, it doesn't have to," I agreed. "But in this case it does."

"You want everyone to be in love just because we are," he countered.

"You think I'm seeing something that isn't there?" I challenged.

"Yeah. I think Bernard is too smart to hit on Sean's partner unless he thought it was going to be something serious. Which it's not."

"Okay, let's bet on it."

I couldn't resist the suggestion. Alex was always throwing bets at Bobby, and even though I had yet to get any details on how they settled up, she always had a smile on her face when she mentioned it.

"What do you want to bet?" he asked. I couldn't see his face, but I could hear his grin.

So I laid out the terms, which he eagerly accepted.

"You're going down, Barek," he said arrogantly, and I suddenly wanted to laugh out loud.

Two hours ago, I'd found him in a cold sweat from a nightmare, and now he was already back to his cocky, adorable self.

"We'll see about that."

We dozed off and on for the next hour and then the alarm went off.

It was time to jump back into our case and see if we could make any headway with Watkins' boys.

Today we needed to catch up with the older two. I wasn't sure why they hadn't come home with Jesse and Lonnie, but we were going to talk to the headmaster at Xavier and get the skinny on all of the boys. One of them, Willie, had recently turned eighteen, which meant that we could talk to him without informing his guardian. I was anxious to get him alone and see what he had to say.

I was also going to talk to Connie about getting a warrant for Watkins' financials. It would be a stretch to get cause for the warrant, but I had faith in Connie's ability to be creative.

We showered and dressed and left the house by seven.

"Sorry for keeping you awake last night," Mike said as we headed for the car.

"I think I'm the one who woke you up," I reminded him. "So I guess I should apologize for not being able to keep my hands to myself."

"Sweetheart, don't ever apologize for that. Feel free to put your hands on me any time the urge hits you."

I had a suggestive retort on the tip of my tongue when Mike's cell phone rang. I stood with my hand on the door handle while he answered the call.

"Logan. When?" he asked tersely. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then settled his gaze on me. "Where? Okay."

He hung up the phone and quietly walked around to the driver's side. We both got in and buckled before he said anything.

"Another home invasion," he told me. "Upper East Side."

"And they're all dead?"

"Uh huh. A family of six."

TBC...


	40. Chapter 40

**Alex POV**

* * *

Bobby and I worked the scene in Hell's Kitchen, which turned out to be one street over from where Dominick had been found.

"You think he wanted to make sure that we knew it was him?" I asked.

"Probably. He's trying to regain the upper hand."

"You think he's watching?"

I stood up and looked around at the buildings bordering the alley. Rows and rows of broken out windows framed both sides.

"There would certainly be plenty of places to hide."

"We should call Sean. And Hayes," I said suddenly. It hadn't occurred to me before now to do so. I was too used to working with just Bobby. "They'll be mad if we work this scene without them."

"They could both use a good night's sleep."

"And they'll love the idea of us being overprotective," I added wryly.

It was almost five-thirty now.

"You're right," he agreed. "Go ahead. I think that's Jenkins coming."

I looked up to see the medical examiner making his way over to the body.

"Sorry for the delay, Detective," he said when he arrived.

"No problem," Bobby told him. "I think we already know the COD, but if you could put a time stamp on it, that would be great."

I took a few steps away from them and pulled out my phone to call Hayes. My instinct had been to call Sean first, but I didn't want it to look like I was playing favorites.

"Detective Hayes' phone," a man answered.

And I didn't really think too much about it, because I don't know her all that well, and it could be perfectly normal for her to have a man answering her phone, except…

"Bernard?" I asked.

"Goren?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Where's Hayes?"

"She's sleeping."

"Okay," I said slowly.

"Alone. In the other room," he clarified. "Not that it's any of your business."

"No," I said, holding back a laugh. "I know it's not."

"She had a concussion, remember? She needed someone to wake her up."

"Right. Okay, well, can you wake her up now? Because we've got another vic."

"Tomlin?"

"It looks like it. He's a firefighter, and COD is stab wounds to the back."

"Where are you?"

I gave him the address and then hung up and called Sean. Alicia answered.

"I'm not sure if I like this detective business," she grumbled good-naturedly. "I don't remember him getting calls at five-thirty when he was a beat cop."

"Be glad I waited until now," I told her. "We got the call over an hour ago."

"Well, I won't tell him that," she replied. "Good timing, though. He just got in the shower. Does he need to call his partner?"

"No, I just spoke with her."

So I gave Alicia the address and then went to hear what Jenkins had determined about the TOD.

"I'd put it at around midnight," he said. "Give or take an hour. And he wasn't killed here."

"Drag marks on the forearms?" I asked him. He stared at me for a moment and then bent down and checked the victim's arms.

"Very good, Detective."

"So he's definitely found himself another car," Bobby commented as he stood up and looked at me. "Where is he taking them? And why take them anywhere at all? This place is plenty secluded enough."

I didn't have an answer, but I did want to do a sweep of the buildings on either side.

I kept getting the eerie feeling of being watched.

"Run a full tox screen on this guy," I told Jenkins.

"You think that I wouldn't?" he asked defensively.

"I'm just saying…it's important."

"It always is, Detective," he mumbled as he waved over his assistant to help him transport the body.

"When is Liz coming back?" I muttered to Bobby as we headed for the closest building. "Because I'm not sure I like that guy."

"He's just got an inferiority complex."

"Yeah. Probably because he's inferior."

Twenty minutes later, after Bobby and I had walked through the rundown interior of one building, Sean arrived.

He had Hayes and Bernard with him.

"How's the head?" Bobby asked her as we stepped back out into the alley.

"I passed all of my spot checks," she replied. "If I can make it two hours without downing a handful of aspirin, I'll be great."

"So what've we got?" Sean asked.

"Are you piggy-backing this one?" I asked Bernard.

"I had some time to kill," he said with a shrug. "I'm meeting Lupes at 1PP at eight, so you've got extra hands until then. What can I do for you?"

"The victim is twenty-six year old Lucas Bradley. He's been with Ladder Eight for almost a year. The ME puts the TOD around midnight, and he's got four stab wounds to the back, similar to those of Dominick Eckhart," I spouted off.

"And he wasn't killed here," Bobby added. "He's got mild drag marks on his forearms, which would indicate that the killer brought him here in a car, pulled him out and placed him in the alley."

"Just like Eckhart," Sean stated.

"That's right."

"So Tomlin almost gets caught, flees from his apartment, has no car…and yet within twelve hours, he has a car, has a victim, and still has a place to kill his victim," Hayes said in frustration. "I wish I'd shot him when I had the chance."

"You guys did the best you could," Bernard said before I could respond. "And if he's doing this on the fly, then he'll make a mistake."

"He's right," I agreed. "We can't look back. Right now we need to finish searching these buildings. I'm wondering if our guy likes to hang around and watch the fuss. And now that he knows we know what he looks like, well…he might have to be a little more careful about his vantage point."

"Alex and I just searched this one here," Bobby said, pointing at the unit directly behind us. "We still need to look through the others. We've got CSU pulling everything from the alley. Hopefully something will give us an indication as to where he's taking these guys."

"And how he's getting them to comply," Sean said suddenly. "Because Tomlin looked fine to me."

"Eames is right," Hayes added quickly. "He moved easily, too. He's not getting hurt during these attacks."

"And yet the blood is contained to a specific location of his choosing," Bernard mused. "So you're right, he's getting them to comply somehow."

"The threat," I suggested. "Come with me or I'll kill you."

"Or drugs," Bobby posed. "If he knows these guys from drug dealings through Johnson…maybe he's offering to hook them up."

"We need to find out if Bradley's an addict," Hayes said.

"The ME's going to put a rush on the tox report," I told her. "We'll know soon enough. Let's go through these buildings, and then we'll go check out Bradley's apartment."

"Family?" Sean asked.

"No indication of one, from the looks of his wallet," I answered.

"I wonder if Kevin knows him," he said quietly.

"I don't know. Let's give it another hour and then we'll call and ask him."

**

* * *

**

Logan POV

The Matherly family had been annihilated, just like the Flynts.

Carolyn and I walked through the blood-spattered home, each of us searching desperately for that one little clue that would lead us to the perps.

"Three sets of shoe prints," one of the techs said.

"Only three?"

"Unless you've got two perps who wear the same size shoe and never walked near each other, yeah. I'm looking at about an eight, maybe a nine, and a twelve. Sneakers. I should be able to narrow that down a little more when I get my hands on some comparison treads."

"Okay, thanks," I replied. I headed down the hall in search of my partner. I found her in the oldest son's room.

"CSU says three perps," I told her. "Which means if it's Watkins' boys, it's not all of them."

"And the one being left out might talk," she said quietly as she continued to look through the boy's desk. "Hey, Mike, look at this."

She pulled out a photo and held it out to me.

It was a picture of Robbie Flynt and our most recent victim, Daniel Matherly.

And two other boys.

"This is déjà vu all over again," I mumbled. "They picked a rich kid, and then they go after his friends."

"We need to ID these two boys," she said. "And find out the names of their other friends, too. Let's go talk to that headmaster."

We left the house and headed for Xavier. School was just getting started, but we managed to catch the headmaster in his office.

"Daniel Matherly?" he asked in distress. "I can't believe this. He was one of our brightest students."

"We need to know about his friends," I said as Carolyn pulled out the picture. "We know Robbie Flynt. Who are the other two boys?"

"Um…that's Elliott Carter," he answered quickly. "I don't know the other boy."

"He doesn't go to this school?"

"No."

"What about Lonnie Evans?" I asked him. "Did he ever hang around these boys?"

"Not…really. No."

"Why do you say it like that?" Carolyn questioned. "Did something happen?"

"Lonnie is new to our school this year. He's had some trouble making friends."

"Trouble with Robbie? Or Daniel?"

"From what I understand, Robbie gave him a chance. They were friends briefly. But it didn't go over well."

"With Daniel?"

"Detectives, this school is like any other. There are cliques."

"The rich kids and the charity cases?"

The headmaster sighed and closed his eyes, but then he nodded.

"We have a few dozen scholarship students. Let's just say that they usually stick together."

"So Robbie tried to cross the poverty line, and his rich friends didn't like it, is that it?"

"It was more like Lonnie tried to cross," he corrected. "Robbie humored him for awhile, but it didn't take long before he realized that they didn't really have anything in common."

I caught Carolyn's gaze, hoping that I could gather some composure from her because this guy was really starting to piss me off.

But one look at her told me that she was just as angry.

"Look, we need to have a chat with a few of your students," I said, dropping my cordial attitude. "Willie Deel. Is he here today?"

"Um…no," he answered after glancing at his computer screen.

"What about Lonnie? Or Jesse Vickers?"

"No. Although their attendance is spotty, at best. In fact, I sent home a letter a few weeks ago to let their foster mother know that they were in danger of losing their scholarships."

"Check one more for us," I said. "Sam Saelens."

"Apparently he is playing hooky with his foster brothers, Detective. He's absent as well."

"Well, what do you expect from low-life kids like that, huh?" I asked sarcastically as we left his office.

What an ass.

I mean, these kids might be bad seeds, but if they were, it didn't have anything to do with the fact that they were poor.

It was because they'd had the misfortune of running across Chesley Watkins.

"I'm going to get a car to sit on the Carters' house," Carolyn said as we headed for our car. "Just in case."

"Good idea. You think those boys are home washing off the blood?"

"Maybe."

"Or do you think I'm jumping the gun? Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with them."

"Oh, I think it does," she said as she read an incoming text message on her phone.

"What is it?"

"From CSU. They found chipped jade under the bed in Daniel's room."

"Jade?" I questioned, but then I had it.

Because I knew every fact from that case five years ago, just like Carolyn.

"Like from that Indian statue that was stolen from the Khan home," I stated.

She nodded at me, and said, "They'll have to confirm it, but yeah, that's what I'm thinking."

"So they're using the statue as their murder weapon? Wasn't it worth like eighty grand?"

"Someone was sitting on it," she suggested. "Someone who was afraid to sell it because it was too recognizable."

"Someone like Chesley Watkins."

"We need to get into her house," I said in frustration.

"There's no way she's keeping that stuff at home," she countered. "She's got a place somewhere else. Someplace we haven't found yet."

"We need to go through her past with a microscope," I said as we got into the car.

"Let's take a pass by her house before we go to 1PP."

"You think she's going to let us in?"

"No. But I'm hoping that maybe we'll make her nervous."

TBC...


	41. Chapter 41

**Bobby POV**

* * *

We found a cigarette butt in one of the buildings.

Actually we found a whole lot more than that, but we found this one particular butt beneath a window that would have provided an excellent view of where the victim had been left in the alley.

And the butt hadn't been cold.

It had dipped down into the twenties over night, and most everything in the buildings were a temperature consistent with that kind of cold.

But that butt wasn't.

In fact, it was warm enough to make me think that Alex had been right to feel like someone was watching us.

I'd bet money that he'd only left after he saw us begin our search in the building across the alley.

That idea really irked me, knowing that he'd been that close. He was getting more and more daring, which wasn't a good sign.

I bagged the butt and handed it off to CSU.

"Let's go back to 1PP and have Kevin meet us down there," Alex said. "The more I think about this drug angle, the more it makes sense to me."

"What if it's both?" I suggested.

"Because they're firefighters and they're addicts?"

"Maybe. I mean, right now we're just guessing about Bradley, but we know about Dom. And we know that Tomlin was looking at Kevin. That's three targets, all of whom are firefighters and two confirmed users."

"But why Sabin? He was clean. There's no evidence that he ever used drugs."

"He lived in the same building with Bentley. Which means…I have no idea what," I admitted. "It has to be that he was an instructor."

"We need to get our hands on those fire school records," she said in irritation.

So far, the fire department wasn't cooperating. They didn't want to hand off their files to the NYPD.

I'm not sure what they were afraid of. I would've thought that catching a killer who'd taken out three of their own would be more important to them than any perceived wrongdoing in a file somewhere.

But apparently not.

"I think you're right. We need a warrant," I said. "If they don't want to play nice, then we'll have to pull out the big guns."

"Maybe we should tell Ross," she suggested. "I don't want to trigger a turf war with the FDNY."

"He got interrupted last night by Bishop. Do we really want to call him again today?"

"No," she agreed after a moment. "No, we'll just have to tread lightly."

"And carry a big stick," I added. "Hopefully Connie will be able to give it to us."

We met up with the others in the alley and filled them in on our plan.

"Bernard, you ride back with them," Sean suggested. "Me and Hayes will go by the DA's office and get the warrant and then serve it at the school. We'll bring the files back to 1PP and we can all go through them."

"Good idea," Alex agreed. "And in the mean time, we'll talk to Kevin and then go back out to look at Bentley's apartment."

"Do you really think there will be anything useful there?" Hayes asked.

"It depends on whether or not Tomlin actually lived there," I replied. "What do you think?"

She and Sean looked at each other.

"There was only one bedroom," Sean answered. "But I guess he could've been crashing on the couch. It's hard to say. A guy like that doesn't usually carry around a big suitcase."

"Although he does carry a pry axe," Alex said.

"He didn't take it with him when he left," Hayes supplied. "Which means he either found another one, or he has another place that he stashes it, or…"

"Or he went back after we put out the fire."

"Shouldn't be too hard to tell if he did," I said. "There'll be footprints in the ash."

"Oh, and we still need to search Bradley's place, too," Alex said.

"Sounds like you guys need some more manpower. How about me and Lupes pitch in?" Bernard offered. "We wrapped up our murder yesterday, so we can probably get away with helping you out until another call comes in."

"We'll take it," I said after glancing at Alex.

"And about that murder case," Alex added. "My dad…"

"Was integral to solving the case," Bernard replied vaguely. "And can probably better fill you in himself."

"Uh huh," she muttered. "Fine. Okay, let's go. Sean, call us when you get the warrant."

"Yes ma'am."

"And don't be a smart ass," she said with a smirk.

"Who me?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah, I know it'll be tough," she retorted. "Oh, and try not to start any fires."

**

* * *

**

Connie POV

I had the cab let me off about five blocks from the office.

I was still tired and I wanted to wake my mind up before going in to work, so I thought that the walk might help.

Although, even if it didn't, last night had been worth it.

We'd gotten home from McNally's around eight-thirty, still plenty early to get a good night's sleep, but we hadn't gone right to bed.

Instead, we'd sat up with Ben. We'd had several more beers and the three of us had talked for hours.

It was actually really nice. I was going to be sorry to see Ben go home tomorrow, but at least I knew that he'd be back in a few more months.

In August.

_When I became Lupo's wife_.

That thought still boggled my mind.

I'd never imagined myself as anyone's wife. Or at least, not since I was about twelve when I had an unhealthy obsession with Rick Springfield.

Lupo and I had finally gone to bed around midnight, but I'd gotten my second wind by then.

So I'd brought up the thing with Hayes, because it was still on my mind.

"So, Sean's partner has a thing for you?" I'd asked casually.

But I wasn't fooling anyone, least of all myself.

I was flat out jealous.

She was younger than me, and prettier than me, and she had the job in common with him.

"No," he'd answered immediately. "I mean, Sean said something about her having asked about me, but I got the idea that there was some sort of misunderstanding."

"Or she was just embarrassed that he'd brought it up in front of you."

"I think she was ready to kill him for bringing it up in front of me," he amended with a wry grin. "But I still don't think there's anything to it."

"Oh."

I turned around and began taking off my skirt. It was only a moment before I felt his hands on my waist. He brought his lips down to my ear.

"Please tell me that you're not jealous," he said softly.

"No," I said quickly. "I'm…it's…"

Then I stopped and let out a sigh, leaning my head back against his shoulder.

"Yes, I guess I am."

"I hope you know that I did nothing to encourage her."

"I know," I admitted. And I did know that. "But you can't tell me that it doesn't make you feel good to know that a woman like her is attracted to you."

"You know what makes me feel good?" he questioned as he started kissing my neck. He moved his hands around until they settled on my stomach, and then he pulled me back tighter against him. "Knowing that a woman like you is going to marry me."

I closed my eyes as he kept kissing me, and then I turned easily in his arms when he urged me to do so.

"I'm being silly, I know."

"It's not silly if it's how you feel. But believe me, sweetheart. You don't have a thing to worry about."

And then he'd brought his lips to mine as he backed me up until my legs hit the bed. I sat down, pulling him down with me, and of course, that was Otto's cue to start barking.

I shushed him, but he seemed convinced that Lupo was hurting me.

"Seriously, guys?" Ben shouted through the door as he simultaneously knocked.

Lupo stopped kissing me and instead buried his face in the crook of my neck.

I could feel the laughter that rumbled through him.

"That dog is like the damn sex police," he muttered.

"Otto's never going to recover from having to watch you two go at it," Ben continued. "Let him out."

"You heard the man," I said quietly. "Let him out."

A moment later, silence descended upon the apartment.

"Better?"

"Much."

"So, where were we again?" he asked me as he once again stretched out over top of me on the bed.

"You were getting ready to convince me of how I'm the only woman you'll ever want."

"Ever want…" he stated as he began unbuttoning my blouse. "Ever need…ever love."

And then he'd made love to me with an intense combination of fervor and tenderness. It was as if he was worshipping and cataloging every inch of me.

The whole experience brought tears to my eyes, and I fell in love with him all over again.

When we finished, and I was lying on my side with my head on his chest, he gently ran his fingers through my hair.

I could tell that something was on his mind.

"I'm sorry about my insecurity," I said, guessing that maybe it was my jealousy that was bothering him.

"Don't be. I think it would bother me more if it _hadn't_ bothered you."

"Huh. I didn't think of it like that," I said thoughtfully. "I like your method of easing my worries though."

"Me, too," he said on a chuckle.

"So that's not what's on your mind…what is it then?" I asked him curiously.

He was quiet for another minute, but then he finally spoke up.

"Who was the guy?"

My first response was to say _what guy_?

But I wasn't going to play games with him. I knew which guy he was talking about.

I'd also known that he'd get around to asking me.

"Lee Gingrich. He's a Richmond County ADA."

"Staten Island?"

"Yeah. Or at least, he was the last I heard. I don't exactly keep tabs on him."

"Huh. I wonder if Logan knows him."

"Lupo…"

"I'm not going to say anything."

"Or do anything," I said as I raised my head up so that I could look at him. "It was a long time ago. And apparently Ben already handled it."

He looked at me with such affection that I felt my eyes well up with tears again. He settled his hand against my cheek and gave me a little smile.

"It just burns me up on the inside to think of what he did to you. To think of how much worse it could have been."

"I know. But promise me you won't go looking for him. It's in the past, okay?"

"I promise not to approach him," he agreed. "But if our paths should ever cross…"

"Then I'll come bail you out."

He grinned fully then, and I couldn't resist leaning down to kiss him. We let it go on for a few minutes and then I settled against his side again, with his arm wrapped firmly around my back.

"I was wondering something," he said quietly after a moment.

"What?"

"When we get married…are you going to take my name?"

As I walked down the street, covering the last block before the office, I smiled again at the thought, just like I had last night when he'd asked.

He'd sounded so shy and insecure. It was funny that we'd started out the night with _me_ being the insecure one.

"Miss Rubirosa!" a voice called out, shaking me from my thoughts.

I looked up and saw Detective Hayes getting out of a vehicle. Undoubtedly, Sean Eames was at the wheel, but there were no parking spaces available, so he continued down the street as Hayes approached me.

"Yes?"

"I was just coming to see you. Um…Lauren Hayes, from last night?"

She seemed very uncomfortable talking to me.

She also had a hell of a bruised lump on the side of her head. It hurt me just looking at it, and I instantly took pity on her and tried to put her at ease.

After all, she was one of the team.

"Of course," I said. "And please, call me Connie. What can I do for you?"

"Two things, actually. Although, I didn't mean to catch you on the way _in_ to work. I thought that you'd already be here, but you know, I saw you walking and I'm the kind of person who tends to act before thinking, so I can wait if you want a chance to go on inside and get your mind ready for the day or…"

"Hayes," I said on a laugh. "It's fine. What do you need? A warrant?"

"Yes. Although actually first I'd like to start with the other thing, if that's okay."

"Sure."

We went inside of the building and then stopped in the lobby where she pulled off her gloves and shoved them into her pocket.

"It's too damn cold out there for April," she muttered. "And…I'm stalling. It's just…that whole thing last night. You know, what Sean said that I said…I didn't want you to get the wrong idea. I would never…I mean, of course I think Lupo is nice and he's really very nice-looking, but it's just that I wouldn't…"

She trailed off again, and blew out a frustrated breath.

"I could just kill Sean," she said, finally looking me in the eye. "Okay, he wanted me to share something about myself, so I decided to tell him that I'd seen a guy at 1PP that I would like to go out with. Right away he told me that Lupo was engaged, but I never said that was who I meant. Because I didn't."

"Okay," I said, fighting back a smile.

And it wasn't just because I was learning that she didn't have her sights on Lupo.

It was that the poor girl had been tossed into a new group of people where we all already knew each other, and then Sean had started talking and only made things worse.

"I just didn't want you to think of me as, you know, competition. Not that I would be competition because I mean, look at you and look at me. There's no contest whatsoever. But I mean, don't think of me as the enemy, I guess."

"I don't think that."

"You don't? Okay, good, because I did not want to start off this detective thing by pissing off an ADA, you know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean," I agreed.

"Are you sure? Because really…I just don't work like that. I mean, even if I _did_ have an interest, as soon as I found out about you, I..."

She stopped talking and ran a frustrated hand over her face.

"You know what? It's Bernard, okay? I think he's really cute, and he's just so nice, and…well, I never did tell Sean who it was, but I want you to know so that you know I'm telling the truth."

She looked at me like she was afraid of my response, although I'm not sure what she thought it would be.

"I think we need to start from scratch," I told her. "Deal?"

"Thank you," she breathed out. "I worried about that all night."

"Come on. Let's go upstairs and you can tell me about the warrant."

We headed for the elevator and went up to my desk.

"We need the FDNY to turn over their admissions and graduation records from their various training schools," she stated as she sat down in the spare chair next to my desk.

She briefly gave me the rundown on what they were looking for, and I made the necessary call.

"I'll get the nod in about five minutes," I told her when I hung up.

"That fast?"

"Sometimes it's the luck of the draw. I got a good judge, and the clerk and I go way back. He'll get him to sign off on it."

"Great. Eames just sent me a text. He's circling the block again."

"Tell him not to bother parking. A couple more laps and you'll have it."

I sat back while she typed her partner a reply, and then she put away her phone and brought her eyes up to mine.

She was maybe a little older than I'd originally thought, or maybe she'd just seen a lot in her time, because while her eyes were a striking shade of blue, they also seemed tired.

"When I started over at the 3-4, this one officer thought that I'd looked at her boyfriend wrong," she began conversationally. "And suddenly the whole division was talking about me being a squad car. Which I'm not, by the way."

"Squad car," I mused. "Is that anything like a fire truck?"

"Exactly like a fire truck," she said. "So you know that expression?"

"Actually, Lupo had to explain it to me," I admitted. "About a case, I mean."

"Yeah, well hopefully you can understand why I was so panicked to start off on the wrong foot here."

I could definitely understand that.

I'd had a brief affair with a DA when I was a new junior assistant.

What kind of a mistake had that been? And how much worse would it have been if everyone had found out about it?

Maybe not exactly the same thing, but close enough.

A reputation was too hard to regain once lost.

"We're fine. I promise."

My phone rang, and I was fully expecting it to be the clerk, so I answered it by hitting the speaker button.

"Rubirosa."

"You're dead, bitch."

I should've switched it off of speaker, but the threatening words and venomous tone temporarily paralyzed me.

"Do you hear me?" the man continued. "I know where you live. You're fucking dead."

I cast a glance at Hayes and then quickly grabbed up the receiver, disabling the speaker.

"Who is this?" I demanded, although I knew it was a stupid question. As if the caller would actually identify himself.

"I'm the one who's going to make you pay."

"Give me that," Hayes said, reaching for the phone, but I was now listening to dial tone.

"He hung up," I told her. I set the receiver back in the cradle and then looked at her, surprised to find her face clouded over in anger.

"Who was that?" she asked me.

"I have no idea," I said, forcing myself to sound unaffected. She didn't buy it.

"Is that the first one?"

"Um…lately, yeah. I mean, it happens from time to time."

"We need to pull the records on your line."

"Hayes…"

"Lauren," she corrected firmly. "And don't tell me that you're not going to report this. He just threatened you. And he said he knows where you live."

"Which he doesn't. Those records are private," I stated, although even as I said the words, I remembered how easily Lupo's murder suspect had gotten the information. But I also didn't want to start a whole thing. "Lauren, please. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"You want me to keep this a secret?"

"For now, yes. If I get another one, then I'll rethink it. Sometimes people just like to vent."

She continued to stare at me, clearly unhappy with my request, but I also knew that she would go along with it. And maybe I was taking advantage of her eagerness to be my friend, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want everyone to worry about something as trivial as a phone call.

"Okay," she said carefully. "But if he calls back…"

"I know," I agreed.

And then I nearly jumped out of my skin when the phone rang again. I reached for the received, but Hayes stopped me.

"Uh uh. Speaker," she directed.

I pushed the button. It was the clerk.

"Your detectives are clear to get their records," Ernie told me. "And the judge did you one better. He's going to call over there and give them the heads up."

"Great, Ernie. I owe you," I said in relief.

I hung up and smiled weakly at Hayes.

"You heard the man. You're good to go, and they'll be expecting you."

"Are you okay?" she asked me as she stood up.

"I'm fine," I assured her. "Go get your records."

"Call me if you need me," she said, jotting down her phone number on a piece of paper. Then she smiled and added, "Bernard was right. You are good. And nice. Thanks."

"Bernard, huh," I replied, returning her smile. I was grateful to be able to think of something other than that phone call. And then because I couldn't resist getting in a plug for him, I added, "You've got good taste. He's a keeper."

TBC...


	42. Chapter 42

**Alex POV**

* * *

"Lucas Bradley? Shit!"

I watched Kevin as the emotions ran across his face at our news.

We were in an interrogation room at 1PP.

Bobby and I had already tried to shake down Ronnie Wilson, but he was steadfast in his assertion that he didn't know Mac Tomlin, and he only knew Ace Bentley from their days of stealing cars together.

"The _old_ days," he'd said pointedly. "I don't do that any more."

"No, now you just buy them from someone else who steals them," I said drolly.

In the end, we'd sent him back to holding to await his bail hearing.

Bishop was going to be ticked that we weren't dropping the charges, but after the way she'd acted, I certainly wasn't worried about trying to do her any favors.

My dad had brought Kevin in this morning, and I'd been glad to see that Kendra had come along, too. The two of them were waiting in the squad room while Bobby and I talked to Kevin.

"So you knew him," Bobby said quietly.

"I…yeah, I knew him."

"Because you had something in common?" I asked him. "Something more than being a firefighter?"

"Just say it, Alex," he replied hotly. "You want to know if he was a cokehead, like me."

I held his gaze, unaffected by his outburst, taking it for what it was.

Fear. Upset. Possibly confusion.

"He was," he confessed. "So I guess I was wrong, huh? This whole thing does have to do with drugs."

"Maybe," Bobby answered. "Probably. Tell us what you know about Tomlin."

"Next to nothing," he admitted. "I ran into him a couple of times, when me and Dom were buying off of Johnson. Like I said, he was into pills, but Johnson supplied both."

"Was Bradley ever with you guys? When you were buying, I mean. Would Tomlin have run across all three of you together?"

"I don't know. Yeah, maybe," he said, and I could tell that he was giving my question the consideration it deserved. "Not exactly together, but there was this one time that Bradley was leaving right when me and Dom got there. And Tomlin was hanging around, talking to Johnson."

"Okay, who else?" I asked him.

"Who else was there?"

"Who else in the fire department does drugs?" I elaborated.

"Shit, Alex, you want me to rat out my brothers?"

"We want you to protect your brothers," Bobby amended. "Because we think that for whatever reason, Tomlin is picking off firemen who have a habit. And we can't have squad cars sitting on everyone in the entire department, but we might be able to keep an eye on the few who might be the targets."

"It's not a few," he said quietly. "There are a lot of us."

"A lot of _them_," I corrected. "Because that's not you anymore, right?"

"No," he said, once again bringing his eyes to mine. "It's not. I haven't done any since I found Dom's body, I swear."

Which meant that this was day five.

"I believe you," I told him. "But that doesn't take you off of Tomlin's list. And we'll still need a list of the others."

"Okay," he agreed reluctantly. "But Alex…"

"We won't be publishing this for what it is," I assured him. "We don't need to disclose why we think they'll be targets. But Kevin…this is bad. Something is going to have to be done. We can't just turn our heads, knowing that this is going on."

"I know."

"We'll think of something," Bobby told him. Then he slid a pad of paper and a pen across the table. "For now, write down who you know."

He nodded and picked up the pen.

"How is it going with Kendra?" I asked him.

"I can't decide which is worse. The yelling or the silence," he replied.

"Silence," Bobby told him. "Take all of the yelling she wants to give. If she didn't love you, she wouldn't be so hurt by what you did."

"I know," he agreed. "It's just…it makes it even worse when we can't be in our own place, you know? I mean, Mom and Dad are right there, probably listening to our every word."

"Make our list. Help us catch this guy, and then you two can go back home."

We left Kevin alone and went out into the squad room.

"So, what's going on?" my dad asked.

"Another firefighter was killed overnight," Bobby answered.

"Someone Kevin knows?" Kendra asked.

Yeah, she definitely still loved him. Her first reaction was concern for how Kevin might be feeling right about now. Because she knew a lot of firemen, too, but that wasn't how she phrased the question.

"Lucas Bradley," I said. "Do you know him?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, he must be…"

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Is it okay if I…"

She trailed off, and instead gestured down the hall toward the interrogation rooms.

"Go ahead," Bobby told her. "He's putting together a list for us."

"What kind of list?" Dad asked in a low voice as Kendra went to go see Kevin.

"Tomlin's potential hit list."

"Why can't we find this low-life?" he asked in frustration. "Where could he be hiding?"

"Too many places," I said. "But we're working all of the angles. Sean and Hayes should be back any minute with the records from the fire school."

"What are they going to tell you?"

"Hopefully, we'll find the connection of Tomlin to Sabin," Bobby explained. "The first victim usually holds the most meaning for a serial killer. It takes a lot to push a person to murder, so there was something about Sabin that put Tomlin over the edge."

"What can I do?"

"We still need to go to Ace Bentley's apartment," I told him. "Lupo and Bernard are going to check out Bradley's apartment. Why don't you stay here and help Sean and his partner? And keep Kevin here. When he finishes his list, give us a call."

"Okay," he agreed. "I can do that."

"And don't think you're off the hook about an explanation," I added.

"What explanation?" he asked coyly. He knew damn well what I meant.

"Why you went to Lupo and Bernard for help on a murder case," Bobby stated. "And why you avoided our calls for the first half of the week."

"Oh, for God's sake," he muttered. "Do we want to broadcast _every_ mistake that an Eames makes? Isn't Kevin in enough trouble for all of us?"

"No," I replied with a grin. "And he doesn't work for us, so…"

"I don't work _for_ you either. I work _with_ you, right?"

"Not even close," I said.

"Fine. You really want to know?"

I caught Bobby's eye and he gave me a barely perceptible nod.

It was time to let my dad out of the box.

"Is the killer caught?" I asked him.

"Yes."

"Are we going to take a hit in the press?"

"No," he answered with apparent relief. "Although I'm not sure whether or not we'll get paid."

"Fine. We've had worse outcomes," I told him, and despite being in the squad room, I gave him a quick hug. "You went for help when you got in over your head. You did good."

I left my father, where he stood speechless from my undoubtedly unexpected nonchalance, and followed Bobby to the elevator.

**

* * *

**

Lupo POV

Bernard stifled yet another yawn as we drove to the abode of Lucas Bradley.

He and the Gorens had been waiting for me when I arrived at 1PP.

"Want to jump on our case until you get another one?" Alex had asked me.

"Sure," I'd replied. I had Ben with me again, but I didn't expect that we'd be handed any of the heavy lifting, so I wasn't worried about him tagging along.

"We'd like you guys to check out our latest victim's apartment," Bobby said.

"You had another one?"

"We got the call early this morning," Alex said. "Definitely the same killer."

"Okay, yeah, sure," I'd agreed.

So the three of us had gotten in the car and headed for the Bronx.

"Late night?" I asked Bernard.

"You could say that."

"The girl at the bar?" Ben chimed in. "Really?"

"She did buy him a beer," I reminded him. "That's pretty much a sure thing."

"Not the girl at the bar," Bernard corrected.

"So…"

"I just didn't get a lot of sleep, that's all."

"You're not going to tell me?"

I hadn't really expected him to, but I was surprised not to see his trademark grin. Usually even when he didn't say anything, that smile still told me what I needed know.

"There's nothing to tell. I just didn't get much sleep."

"Huh," I mumbled, casting a sideways glance at him as I found a parking spot near our destination. Then I realized something else. "You're wearing the same suit."

"What, do you always check out my wardrobe, Lupes?"

"No, but tell me I'm wrong."

"You're not wrong," he admitted.

I cut off the car and then stared at him, and that was when I noticed something else. "And what is that? Cat hair?"

He looked down at his sleeve and picked at the tuft of white fur.

"Yeah," he said with a shrug.

"You hate cats."

"Maybe I just never met the right cat," he said, and he finally gave me a half smile. "And that's all I'm going to say about it."

"Okay. I hear you," I conceded. "Let's go check this place out."

"You're not going to make me stay in the car, are you? I mean, how dangerous can it be? Isn't this guy already dead?" Ben asked.

We ended up letting him come into the building with us, but we told him that he'd have to stay in the hall.

The super wasn't in his office, so instead I picked the lock on Bradley's door, pleased that my tutorial from Alex and Carolyn was finally going to come in handy.

"Are you allowed to do that?" Ben asked.

"We need to get in. And we're allowed to search the victim's place," Bernard told him. "Just not a suspect's."

Once inside, Bernard let out a low whistle.

"I think we found where our guy was attacked," he remarked.

The place was in shambles. Furniture was broken, the coffee table was overturned, drawers pulled from their tracks…

"Hey B., I've got blood in here," I called out from the kitchen.

There were several drips on the tile near the sink and some inside the sink itself.

"Maybe the vic got a good one in on the perp," Bernard mused as he looked at what I'd found. "Looks like he tried to wash himself up."

"We need to get CSU out here," I stated. I reached for a stack of mail that was on the counter and flipped through the envelopes, but nothing jumped out at me.

"No sign of anyone else living here," Bernard commented after walking down the hall. "But there was blow dumped out on the bed."

"On the bed?" I asked in confusion. "Who would do that?"

"You got me. But check this out."

He held out a picture which was of Lucas Bradley leaning against a car.

"You think it's Bradley's car?"

"I don't know, but we know that Tomlin needs wheels," Bernard said, and both of us looked toward the front door. There was a key rack that hung just inside the door, but there were no keys on it.

"Can I help you?" a man asked as he stuck his head through the doorway. "What's going on in here?"

"NYPD," I said as I showed him my badge. "Are you the super?"

"That's right."

"Lucas Bradley. Is this his car?" I questioned, showing him the photo.

"Yeah. It's a 1972 Chevelle. He loves that car. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Where does he keep it parked?" Bernard asked, ignoring his question.

"All of the tenants have their own spot in the garage."

So I made the call to CSU and then we all went out to the parking garage.

"It's usually here, especially this time of day. Luke works nights," the super said.

"Now we know what Tomlin's driving," Bernard mumbled.

"Yeah, but I wonder how long he's going to feel safe in that car before he trades it for another?"

"I guess we'd better hurry up and get out that APB."

TBC...


	43. Chapter 43

**Kevin POV**

* * *

Bobby and Alex left me alone to work on my list.

I felt like a traitor.

I had no idea whether or not I would ever be allowed back to work, but even if I was, how would the guys treat me, knowing I'd squealed?

I'd be lucky if they let me wash the truck after this.

But at the same time, it was for their protection, right?

Wasn't that what Bobby had said? If this Tomlin guy was for some reason targeting firemen who did drugs, then maybe this list would save one of my brethren.

Maybe it would keep someone else from ending up like Bradley.

And Dom.

I heard the door open, so I glanced up, expecting to see my sister.

But instead it was my wife.

She looked pale and tired. And sad and distant.

I was hit with the overwhelming urge to take her into my arms and promise her that everything was going to be okay.

But I didn't.

I _couldn't_.

Because it wasn't just going to be okay, and it was my fault.

She surely didn't want comfort from me.

More likely, she wanted a divorce.

So far, she'd been too kind to say the D-word, but I knew that it had to be foremost on her mind.

And how could I blame her?

I'd taken the years of established trust and I'd thrown it all away.

"I'm sorry about your friend," she said quietly as she closed the door behind her. "Alex told me that you knew the latest victim."

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "Not well, but still…"

"Are you okay?"

I felt like crying at the realization that she was still concerned for how I felt. I didn't deserve her. I deserved to be tied to an ant hill and doused with honey.

"My well-being is not really a priority right now," I replied. I gestured towards the paper that I was writing on and added, "I'm working on a list for Alex."

"I heard them mention something about that. What kind of list?"

"Other guys who…might be targets."

She nodded in understanding, but still hovered near the doorway.

She'd stayed with me at Mom and Dad's last night, but after we'd gone a few rounds, she'd left me a lone in the den, choosing instead to sleep in my old bedroom.

It still looked like it did when I'd last lived there, nearly thirty years ago. I didn't want to set foot in it because it reminded me too much of the expectations I'd had for myself.

Those aspirations that were now in the toilet.

"I won't keep you," she said softly. "I know that's important. But I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

"I'm fine, really. He was a colleague, but…"

"No, I mean I'm sorry about last night," she interrupted.

I brought my eyes back to hers, shocked at her apology.

_She_ was sorry?

"You're going through enough right now without having to deal with me, too," she explained. "And at your parents' house…that was wrong."

"Kendra, I deserve everything you want to throw at me," I told her sincerely. "I know how badly I've screwed up. But you…you don't owe me anything."

She dropped her eyes to the floor for a minute and then took a deep breath and crossed the room, coming around the table to pull out the chair next to me. She sat down and then put her hand over mine, where it rested on the table.

"You did screw up. But you're also human. And I'm certainly not perfect either."

"Yes, you are," I interrupted, turning my hand over beneath hers so that I could clasp her fingers. "You are perfect. And I don't deserve your forgiveness."

She flashed me a brief, pained smile and I felt a stabbing pain in my chest when I saw that she had tears in her eyes.

"For the past several days, I've been trying to imagine what my life would be like without you in it," she admitted.

"Easier," I said sadly. "You wouldn't be spending your days at the police station, or worrying about who might be following you, or wondering if I was doing drugs again…"

"Kevin, stop," she said gently. "I had to try. Because you know me. I have to look at things from every angle. I want to stay with you. I just needed to be sure that it was also the right thing to do. For the kids and for me."

I stopped breathing altogether as I waited for the verdict.

This was it.

_She's so calm now because she's made up her mind. _

_She's leaving me._

"And?" I finally asked when she didn't continue.

"I can't do it."

"Can't do what?"

But I knew what she was saying. She can't forgive me. And I couldn't blame her.

"I can't picture my life without you in it. I love you, and yes, you hurt me and you damaged what we had, but I have to believe that we can get it back. I _want_ to get it back."

"Oh thank God," I said on an exhaled breath. "I thought…I really thought that you were going to tell me that you were done. And I wouldn't blame you. I…"

"There's more," she interrupted. "When I said that I'm not perfect…I meant it. I…I found out something last week, and I should've told you right away, but I didn't, and then I'd decided that I was going to tell you Monday, but that was when you told me about what was going on with you, and…"

"What is it?" I asked, suddenly concerned because of the apprehension on her face.

I took a chance and reached out to her, settling my hand on her cheek. I felt tremendous relief when she leaned into my touch and closed her eyes, and yet I still couldn't fathom what had her so concerned.

She finally opened her eyes again and took a deep breath before saying the words.

"Kevin, I'm pregnant."

**

* * *

**

Sean POV

"Well, you don't have a black eye," I quipped to Hayes when she got back into the car. "Did you get things cleared up with the counselor?"

"You mean did I repair the damage done by you spouting off your big mouth?" she retorted. "Yes, I did."

"Hey, I didn't say anything that wasn't true," I argued.

"Yeah, you did," she countered. "You're the one who brought up Lupo, not me. And even if I _had_ mentioned him, which I _didn't_, it was supposed to be a secret. Remember that, partner?"

She had me there.

I'd known as soon as I spoke that I was wrong to do so and yet every time I'd tried to fix it, I kept making it worse.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"What did you say? Because that kind of sounded like a half-ass apology, but I'm sure that's not what it was," she fired back as she buckled her seatbelt. Then she looked up at me and flashed me a grin. She was going to let me off the hook. But I didn't deserve to be, so I made a second effort.

"Hayes, seriously. I'm really sorry."

"Okay. Apology accepted. Now get us over to Brooklyn so we can get our hands on those records."

I waited for a break in traffic and then pulled out into the flow.

"So, are you going to tell me yet who this mystery man at 1PP is?"

"Are you kidding me? Just because I forgive you doesn't mean I'm going to start sharing secrets. Besides, you might know soon enough."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I think I've decided to ask him out."

"So who is it?"

"I said I _think_ I've decided. If I do and he says yes, then I'll tell you."

"Huh. Yeah, okay. So you're going to ask him. That's very progressive of you."

"Women do the asking all the time," she said. "When was the last time you had a date? 1995?"

"Something like that," I said on a chuckle. "'94 maybe."

"Exactly," she said smugly.

"So, Bernard took good care of you last night?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah," she replied. "He was very…nice. There probably aren't too many men out there who would volunteer to sleep on a stranger's couch."

"You're not a stranger. You're…you."

"I'm a stranger to him. And mostly to you, too."

I let out a noise of disagreement, but she continued making her point.

"What kind of music do I listen to? What do I like to do in my off-hours? What's my cat's name?"

"Your cat? Honestly, I didn't even know you had a cat until you said something about it yesterday."

"About _her._ My cat is a her and her name is Janis."

"Janice? Who names their cat Janice?"

She smirked at me and shook her head.

"And you've just completely proven my point. You know nothing about me."

"So _talk_," I said in frustration. "And then I'll know."

But she didn't. And for some strange reason, she seemed to be in a really good mood, so I let it go.

We picked up the records without much trouble and then headed back to 1PP.

"I can't believe these are only from the past two years," Hayes commented. We had the backseat full of boxes, as was the trunk. "You think Tomlin's in there somewhere?"

"I don't know, but I guess we're going to find out."

My phone buzzed, indicating a text, so I handed it off to Hayes since I was driving.

"You want me to read it?" she asked in surprise.

"I'm not going to text and drive."

Besides, I had a specific tone for anything incoming from Alicia, so I wasn't worried about it being something personal.

"Um…it's from Detective Goren," she said. "It says that Bradley had a car and now it's missing. They've got an APB out on a '72 Chevelle."

"Sweet car," I mused. "So Tomlin killed Bradley and took his car. That's different. I mean, he took Sabin's car, too, but that was the week before he killed him."

"He's changing his routine," Hayes said. "That's good, right?"

"Good and bad. It'll make him less predictable, but also more likely to make a mistake."

"Do you think he'll still try to go after Kevin?"

"He probably wants to," I agreed.

We were both quiet for a few minutes, and then Hayes spoke up.

"If you found out something about someone," she began cautiously. "And it worried you, but you promised that you wouldn't tell…what would you do?"

"It worried you because that person is in danger?" I asked. I decided to let her be vague. I had some making up to do in the trust department, so I wasn't going to push her.

"Yes. Maybe."

"Then why did you promise?"

"Because I was trying to respect that person's wishes."

"That's a good question. I'd say you just declared yourself as this individual's personal watchdog."

"That's kind of what I was thinking," she replied thoughtfully.

"If you need help, just say the word," I offered.

"No. It's just…it's hard, you know? This whole crowd you're involved with. I mean, I like it. I like the idea of having a group that I can depend on. Growing up, it was just me and my brother, and…well, I already told you about him. My mom and dad worked long hours and both of them considered their careers to be more important than their kids. In a way, it might be what drew me to police work. Knowing that I'd have a partner, one person I could always count on. And now I'm stuck with _you_," she said with a grin. "Which means that I've suddenly got half a dozen _more_ people who seem willing to take me in simply because of my ties to you."

"And that's a good thing, right?"

"It is. But it's strange, too. Everyone is so…I don't know. _Honorable_. I'm suddenly afraid of letting people down simply by virtue of _not_ doing the right thing."

"You do the right thing," I assured her, secretly pleased at how much she'd opened up.

"What about with this? If I tell, I've blown a confidence. If I don't and something happens…"

I could definitely see her dilemma.

"Then tell someone," I said at last. "Tell one person whose judgment you trust."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but that's what I think."

"Okay," she said thoughtfully. "Thanks."

"Wow, Hayes," I teased. "I think that's the most you've ever said to me at one time."

"Well, let's see if you manage to keep this between us."

"Ouch. Touché," I said on a laugh. I pulled the car into the parking garage at 1PP and that was when my cell phone rang again.

Only this time it was Alicia's ring.

Hayes went to open the phone since she still had it in her hand, but I snatched it from her.

"Uh uh," I said with a grin. "I like this whole open-up-and-feel-good crap, but you're not going to read a text from my wife."

"Oh, so that's your wife's ring tone, huh? And what are you afraid of? Does she send you dirty text messages?"

"No," I lied. "It's just personal."

"Uh huh. Like _you need to bring home diapers_ kind of personal? Or _can you get away at lunch for a nooner_ kind of personal?"

I barked out a laugh as I opened my phone to read the text. I liked the teasing side of Hayes.

"If I told you, then it wouldn't be personal, would it?"

TBC...


	44. Chapter 44

**Bobby POV**

* * *

The burnt out remains of Ace Bentley's apartment proved mostly useless.

"This was a wasted trip," Alex muttered.

"No footprints," I remarked. "So unless he was stashing the pry axe somewhere else, it should be here, right?"

She nodded thoughtfully and led the way down the blackened hall.

Bentley's body had been removed yesterday by the coroner's office and was currently awaiting an autopsy.

Although I'd seen him.

The COD was pretty obvious considering the concise hole in the middle of his charred forehead.

Sean had been cleared quickly due to the obvious extenuating circumstances.

I wasn't sure if it was because it was so cut and dried, or if it was because Bernard knew the IAB officer assigned to the matter, and had subtly pulled him aside.

Whichever the case, it had all been over before it really began.

"Matches," Alex remarked as she looked through a mostly-intact drawer in the kitchen. "Lots of them. Handy for a pyromaniac, don't you think?"

"It's kind of odd that he mentioned that to Sean. He commented on that being in his profile."

"Maybe he couldn't decide between being a cop or a fireman."

"Uh huh," I agreed. "Which might have made it that much more devastating to be denied. He finally chose and then he failed. I wonder if they've found anything in the records yet."

"You really think he flunked out?"

"That would be my guess. Sabin flunked him, so he killed him."

"And then he took out his anger on other firefighters?"

"Maybe when he saw they were addicts, it sent him into a rage. Because they'd gotten what he couldn't have and yet they were unappreciative."

"Pills," she called out, still searching through the kitchen. "Oh, and hey, check this out."

She tossed me the bottle of pills and I turned it around so that I could read the label.

"Cardizem. Prescribed to Joshua Sabin. So Tomlin stole drugs from him."

"Why would anyone want to take heart medication for the hell of it?" she mused.

"I don't know," I said. "Side effects are dizziness, nausea, lightheadedness…"

"Sounds like a blast."

"Maybe he stole them so that Sabin _wouldn't_ have them," I posed. "Maybe he wanted him off his game."

"Maybe," she agreed.

We spent the next hour bagging and tagging everything in sight, but we never ran across the pry axe.

"But there's no sign of him having come back," I said.

"Which means that it wasn't here to begin with."

"So he has someplace to keep it where he feels safe. Not a place to sleep, but a place to store his possessions."

"And maybe that's where he kills his victims."

We finished up at the apartment and headed back to 1PP.

Johnny had called Alex earlier to tell her about the list that Kevin had comprised.

Thirteen names.

"And these are just the ones he knows," she'd said in disbelief after hanging up the phone. "How many do you think there actually are?"

It was a good question to which we had no way of knowing the answer.

The best that we could do was to give the men a heads-up.

Alex placed a call to the fire chief and explained the situation.

Sort of.

She told him that it had been determined that the men were potential victims of a serial killer and extra precautions should be taken to ensure their safety.

She didn't elaborate on the trait that had triggered their appearance on the list.

We were still going to have to put our heads together to determine how best to handle that situation, but for now, this was the quick fix.

We got out of the SUV in the parking garage and headed for the elevator where we found Lupo and Bernard. Ben was still with them, too.

"I thought you would've been back awhile ago," I commented.

"False alarm on the APB," Lupo explained. "We were on our way back when we took a call from a uniform who reported seeing it."

"And it wasn't our car?"

"It wasn't even close," Bernard said in irritation. "I think that cop was just an publicity junkie. He wanted to be involved in a big case."

Lupo nodded his agreement.

"Uh huh. It took us an extra two hours because we were almost here and then had to go over to Brooklyn."

"What did you guys find at Bentley's?" Bernard asked.

"Some pills. And some matches, but no pry axe."

"Could you tell if he'd been back?" Ben asked, and I couldn't help but smirk at his cop-like line of thought.

"It didn't look like it," I told him. "And I think we would've been able to tell. We left shoe prints all over the place."

"So he has a hiding place," Lupo mused.

"That's what we're thinking."

"Sean and Hayes are here with the records?" Bernard questioned as we finally got onto the elevator.

"Yeah, and Kevin made us a list of potential targets."

"Good. The walls are closing in on this guy," Lupo remarked.

We found everyone in a conference room on the eleventh floor. And by everyone, I mean Johnny, Sean, Hayes, and Kendra.

"Where's Kevin?" I asked.

"He went to downstairs to get some coffee," Johnny said as he got up from the table. "And now that you guys are back, I'd better go. Someone needs to run that business of yours because it's not going to run itself."

"You're leaving?" Alex asked in surprise.

"I'm not a consultant on this case," he reminded us. "And it looks like you have plenty of manpower. I don't want to let things go any longer at the office. But keep me posted, okay?"

"I'll walk you out and then go find Kevin," Kendra said.

"Alright, what've you got?" I asked Sean after Johnny and Kendra left.

"Nothing so far," he replied.

"What's your system?" Bernard asked as he pulled up a chair next to Hayes.

"Passes on the right, failures on the left," Hayes said. "When we finish, we'll go back through all of the ones who failed and run checks on them to see where they are now. So far, the name isn't matching up to any of them, but who knows if that's his real name?"

"Good," I said with a nod. "We're going to talk to Kevin again. I'm sure he's tired of reliving his story, but maybe if he tells it again, something else will shake loose in his mind."

The door opened, and I expected to see Kevin, but instead, it was Connie.

"Hey, Lupo," she said quietly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Did you _walk_ over here?" Hayes asked her sharply. Her tone of voice caused all of us to turn to look at her, but she kept her gaze on Connie.

"Yes," she answered calmly, staring hard back at Hayes.

I shifted my gaze to Alex.

_What's going on here?_ I asked silently.

_I have no idea, _her look said.

"Connie…"

"It's not that cold out," Connie stated firmly. "But I appreciate your concern. Lupo?"

"Uh…yeah," he said as he got up from the table. He was just as confused by the undercurrent in the room, I could tell.

As soon as Lupo closed the door behind him, Sean turned to his partner.

"What the hell was that about?"

"What?"

"_That._"

"Nothing. She just…said earlier that she…wasn't feeling well, and then she walked over here when it's freezing outside."

"She's not sick," Ben argued. "Or at least, not that I've noticed. And I've been living with her all week."

"I don't know," Hayes said with a shrug, and then picked up another file. "I'm just repeating what she said."

"Huh," Alex mused, still looking at me.

Something more was definitely going on here, but now wasn't the time.

"Where did Kevin go for coffee? Seattle?" Alex asked in annoyance after we'd been waiting for several more minutes.

"Come on," I told her. "We'll go to him. I could use some coffee myself."

We stepped out into the hall and ran into Lupo and Connie.

Apparently, they hadn't gone far.

"I'm not saying that I believe it. I'm telling you what she said," Connie was saying. "I need to get a statement from you, and one from Bernard, too."

"Fine. And while you're at it, get one from Ben."

They paused as we approached, with Lupo staring angrily at Connie, who shifted her gaze to the floor.

"Sorry," I mumbled as we went past them. "We're just…going down to find Kevin."

"Oh, you just missed him," Connie said.

"What?" Alex asked sharply.

"You just missed him," Connie repeated. "He was on his way out as I came in."

"Shit," Alex muttered, and she pulled out her cell phone as the two of us hurried to the elevator. "What is he doing now?"

"I can guess," I replied.

The elevator opened up and Kendra stepped off.

"Where did he go?" Alex asked her.

"Who?"

"Kevin," I said in frustration. "You went down to get him."

"Yeah, and he wasn't there. I figured that he must've taken the stairs or something, and I'd just missed him. So…oh my God…he's not here?"

"Connie said he left the building," Alex told her as she dialed her phone. She listened for a moment and then shook her head. "It's going straight to voice mail."

"Do you know where he might've gone?" I asked Kendra.

"I have no idea."

"He didn't talk about Tomlin?"

"No."

"Come on, Kendra," Alex said. "Don't hold out on us. This is dangerous. We need to find him."

"Honestly, Alex. I don't know."

"What was the last thing you two were discussing before he left the conference room?" I asked.

"He was talking about Dominick. I think he wanted me to understand…you know, everything. And then he said he wanted to get some coffee."

"Go back to the conference room and stay there," I ordered.

"What do I tell the others?"

"Nothing," Alex said. "We need them to keep searching those records. We'll find him."

Kendra walked away and Alex stabbed at the elevator button with her finger.

"I can't believe he'd just go out there on his own like that. Damn it, Bobby. Tomlin wants him dead, and Kevin's just going to go after him unarmed?"

"He remembered something," I suggested. "He was talking about Dom and he remembered something important, something that makes him think he knows where Tomlin is hiding."

"Then why didn't he just tell us? We could've gone there and picked him up."

"Because he wants to handle it himself."

"Yeah, look how well that's worked for him up until now," she replied hotly.

I stayed quiet.

I knew that she was more scared than mad, so I tried to offer up silent support rather than argue with her.

"This is bad, Bobby. It's not going to end well. If he finds him, he'll kill him. Or get himself killed. Which means he'll either be dead or in prison."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I said calmly. "Maybe he was just going stir crazy in 1PP. Maybe he needed to get out on the street and look himself. He doesn't necessarily know where to look."

"You don't really believe that."

"No," I admitted on a sigh.

No, I didn't believe it. I was afraid of the exact same thing that she was.

"Okay, so where to?" she asked me when we finally got to the car. She started the engine and then looked at me with concern.

"Hell's Kitchen. Those buildings…I think we must have missed something. I bet if we go through them again, we'll find that axe."

And I didn't say it out loud, but I didn't have to.

She surely knew what I was thinking.

We needed to find Tomlin and his axe before Kevin found them.

TBC...


	45. Chapter 45

**Bernard POV**

* * *

It's not very often that I have a recurring image in my head and then that vision later becomes reality.

Okay, maybe at work it happens. At work, I can sift through the evidence and get a mental picture of our suspect. I can imagine how that perp might have carried out the crime and then subsequently tried to cover it up.

And when I was a kid, it happened, too.

I grew up in Compton.

Back then, it wasn't a stretch to pick out which guys weren't going to make it to adulthood.

And there were plenty of them. Ones who ended up dead because of their chosen lifestyle or mitigating circumstances.

There were also those who wound up in prison. They hadn't been hard to pick out, either. Guys who were jacking and banging by the time they hit puberty.

And yeah, sometimes I got it wrong.

Sometimes a guy I'd pegged as going to prison would end up dead.

And vice versa.

But there were only a few of us who got out. Only a few of us who made the _effort _to get out.

Growing up like that had made me a realist and it wasn't often that I had time for fantasies.

Or, like I said, not fantasies that then later came true.

But it happened last night.

Sitting in McNally's, I'd tried to imagine what Hayes would look like with her hair down, fresh from the shower.

And then a few hours later, I was a witness to that scene.

And I don't mean like _that_.

But I'd gone with her to her place and she'd showed me to the living room and then excused herself.

"I really smell bad," she'd said with a smile as she handed me the remote control. "Make yourself at home. I'm going to take a quick shower."

Twenty minutes later, she'd come back, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Definitely not attire meant to entice and yet it did. Because her feet were bare and her hair hung past her shoulders in damp waves. It looked just like I'd suspected.

"Not much for TV?" she'd asked me, nodding toward the still-black television.

"Sometimes," I'd replied ambivalently. "Usually only when I have a purpose. I'm not much for random surfing."

"Basketball?" she'd asked hopefully as she sat down in the chair. I was on the couch, but I had yet to take off my suit jacket or my shoes. I didn't want to seem too comfortable.

"If you tell me you're a Knicks fan, I'm walking out right now," I'd teased. She laughed out loud and shook her head.

"No, but I'm ashamed to say who," she'd answered.

"Wait, let me guess."

And I had no idea at all because I didn't even know where she'd grown up, but I liked the sound of her laugh, and I liked that she'd come to sit with me instead of going straight to bed.

"You won't."

"Oh, you're that sure, huh? Okay…the Raptors."

"Not even close."

There was something about the way she'd said _close_ that gave her away. I hadn't noticed any accent on her before, but there was no denying it now.

"Timberwolves," I stated.

"What? How did you…"

"Aren't you from Minnesota?" I asked with a grin.

And I'd purposely said it with the same accent.

Minn-ah-soooda.

"You're good, Bernard," she'd replied. "Okay, so what about you?"

"Lakers, baby. All the way."

"Huh. We'll see about that."

And then from out of nowhere a white monstrosity had jumped onto her lap.

"I was wondering where you were hiding," Hayes had said quietly to the enormous cat as she began rubbing its head.

And have I mentioned that I don't like cats?

It was the first thing about Hayes that I wasn't crazy about.

But since I was painfully aware of the fact that we were never going to be anything more than friends, I wasn't too worried about the cat.

It's not like I'd have to endure waking up with it sitting on my chest or anything.

"That is one big cat."

"Yeah," she agreed. "But she's good company."

"What's her name?"

"Janis."

"Oh, a Joplin fan, huh? Me, too."

"Yeah? I've got her CD in," she'd said. "Push that button on the remote."

And so we'd sat in her living room and listened to the entire CD.

Afterwards, she'd brought me a pillow and a blanket so that I could get comfortable on the couch and then she'd gone to bed.

"I'll set my watch alarm," I'd told her. "Don't shoot me when I come in to wake you up."

The first time I'd gone in, I'd stared at her for a whole minute before touching her on the shoulder.

The next couple of times, I'd awakened her quickly because I felt guilty for having stared the first time.

Each time, I'd go through a quick series of questions to make sure that she was okay.

What's your name?

What year is it?

What's sixteen plus ten?

What's my name?

"I have no idea," she'd answered in reference to the last question. It was three-thirty in the morning, and she'd answered it correctly the first three times.

I furrowed my brow and looked at her quizzically as I sat down on the edge of her bed.

"You know who I am," I encouraged, suddenly worried that maybe she didn't.

"I know Bernard," she'd answered with a sleepy smile that was devastating to my self-control. "I don't know your first name."

"Kevin," I told her.

And there was something so intimate about the moment that it was almost physically painful.

Here I was, sitting on the edge of her bed in the darkness of her room. She was lying on the near side of the bed, so close that my hip was grazing against hers, albeit through the layers of blankets, but still…and that hair that I was itching to touch was spread out on the pillow…

"Kevin," she repeated. "Okay. I think I'm good. See you in an hour, right?"

So I'd gone back to the couch with my imagination running even more rampant than before. I'd fully expected to be unable to sleep, but I did because when I awoke to the sound of my watch alarm, I felt a crushing weight on my chest.

Janis.

It was a miracle that the alarm hadn't scared her away.

"I don't know why you came out here," I muttered to the cat. "You know I don't like cats."

But she continued to lay on my chest, her green eyes staring at me, and so I reached out a hand and patted her on the head.

She immediately started purring.

"Are you trying to win me over or something? It's not going to work," I told her, although I continued to stroke her long fur. "You guys are moody and you shed and then there's the whole coughing up fur ball thing…"

"For someone who doesn't like cats, you're being awfully nice to her."

I nearly fell off the couch at the sound of Hayes' voice. Partly because she'd startled me and partly because I was embarrassed at having been caught having a conversation with Janis.

"What are you doing up?" I asked as I set the cat on the floor and then gracelessly got to my feet.

"I heard your alarm. You know, I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about setting it for the next hour. Maybe you can get a couple of hours in a row before it's time to go to work."

"Well, we can't be too careful," I argued lightly. "We've made it this far. I'll wake you at five-thirty, and then we can just get up at six-thirty. I'd like to run by my place before we go in so that I can change clothes."

Of course, it hadn't worked out like that.

I'd gone in to wake Hayes at five-thirty and just before I reached out to touch her on the arm, her cell phone had started to buzz.

I'd snatched it and walked back into the living room. I wasn't sure why I did that, since I'd been getting ready to wake her up anyway.

Maybe because she'd looked so peaceful.

Maybe because I'd decided that she was probably right and could use the REM sleep more than playing another round of quiz show.

But it had been Alex. So that was how I'd ended up at work in the same suit, the jacket of which had been Janis' bed at some point.

I'd deflected Lupo's questions because my feelings were too close to the surface.

I really, really liked this girl, and yet I still had to face reality.

She wasn't into me. Not romantically, anyway.

It seemed as though she could just use a friend.

And I could do that.

She was fun to be around, and especially now that Lupo was always with Connie, it might be nice to have another single friend.

But before I could talk about it, I needed to wrap my brain around the disappointing fact that it was never going to be anything more than friendship.

Lupo had let me play it off, and then we'd searched Lucas Bradley's apartment and managed to get the lead with the car.

The subsequent hit on the APB had been a bust, so we'd gone back to 1PP.

"I'll catch up to you guys," Lupo had said to me and Ben as we headed for the elevator. He had his phone out, so I guessed that maybe he was going to call Connie.

"We'll hold the elevator," I answered. He only took a couple of minutes, but he looked awfully serious when he crossed the garage to us.

"Connie okay?" I asked him.

"Connie? Um…yeah. That was actually Logan."

I raised an eyebrow at him, but he shrugged me off and before I could decide whether or not to pursue it, the Gorens showed up.

"I thought you would've been back awhile ago," Bobby said. We explained to him what had happened with the false alarm and then they filled us in on what they'd found while the five of us went up to meet the others.

Eames and Hayes had been plowing through the fire school files, so Lupo and I were going to help. Ben was still with us, but I could tell that he was trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. And really, I didn't mind him. He was a nice guy and I was glad to see that he'd warmed up to Lupo.

"What's your system?" I asked as I sat down next to Hayes.

"Passes on the right, failures on the left," she said. "When we finish, we'll go back through all of the ones who failed and run checks on them to see where they are now. So far, the name isn't matching up to any of them, but who knows if that's his real name?"

"Good," Bobby told her. "We're going to talk to Kevin again. I'm sure he's tired of reliving his story, but maybe if he tells it again, something else will shake loose in his mind."

The door opened, and I looked up to see Connie. She seemed frazzled and a little stressed.

"Hey, Lupo," she said quietly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Did you _walk_ over here?"

I whipped my head around to look at Hayes because that question seemed to have come from nowhere.

Connie walked over here all of the time.

And besides that, did Hayes even know her well enough to ask something like that?

"Yes," Connie responded simply, in a tone that suggested the discussion was over. I had no idea why it had even started to begin with, but I made a mental note to ask Hayes about that later.

Because it was most definitely _some_thing.

"Connie…" Hayes pushed.

"It's not that cold out," Connie replied. "But I appreciate your concern. Lupo?"

"Uh…yeah."

Sean questioned Hayes about it after Lupo left the room, but she played it off, saying something about Connie being sick.

_Connie's not sick_, I thought, and as I thought it, Ben said it out loud. But Hayes remained quiet about her real purpose for the question.

The Gorens left the room, and after a few minutes, Lupo came back in.

And he was mad.

"You knew and didn't tell me?" he asked Hayes, putting his hands down on the table and leaning down close to her.

"Knew what?" Sean asked.

"She asked me not to say," Hayes replied as she got up from her chair. But for the first time since I'd met her, she seemed unsure.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Ask her," Lupo retorted. "She seems to know all of the details."

"Lupes," I warned. "If Connie asked her to keep something quiet…"

"A death threat!" he yelled. "She was keeping a death threat quiet! We're the goddamn police. If there are death threats going on, then we need to know about it."

"A death threat?" Ben repeated. I looked at him and shook my head. There was enough going on here without him jumping into the middle of it.

"I was respecting her wishes. And I made her promise to tell you if it happened again."

"That's great, Hayes," he said sarcastically. "As long as you made her promise…"

"What did you want her to do?" I asked, standing up so that I could get in the middle of the two of them. Sean did, too. "Break Connie's confidence? I'd think if you're going to be mad at someone, it would be her."

Lupo glared at me for a long minute. I knew that he was more frightened than angry, and I understood why he was upset. He finally took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Okay," he said. "Okay, I'm sorry. I just…I need to know these things."

"Then tell _her_ that you need to know," Hayes asserted. "Because I suggested it and she shot me down."

"She is pretty hard-headed," Ben spoke up.

"I know," Lupo admitted.

"So what's this threat all about?" I asked him.

"We'll have to get back to that. She's still in the building, and she's going to _stay_ in the building until we can discuss that threat at greater length, but first there's a more pressing issue."

"What's going on?"

Lupo ran his hand over his face in frustration and then turned to look at me and Ben.

"We all need to give statements."

"About what?" I asked.

"Allison Sundberg is accusing me of sexual harassment."

TBC...


	46. Chapter 46

**Lupo POV**

* * *

I heard the door open, but I didn't look up because I'd been expecting Kevin.

The sound of Connie's voice was a pleasant surprise, but that warm feeling was immediately followed by concern when I registered her concerned tone.

"Hey, Lupo, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Did you _walk_ over here?" I heard Hayes ask her.

And that was about the last thing in the world I would've expected anyone to say, much less Hayes.

My internal alarm began ringing despite Connie's cool affirmative reply because then Hayes pushed the issue. Connie deflected her interrogative again, and then settled her worried gaze back onto me.

"Lupo?"

"Uh…yeah," I said as I got up and left the room. I followed her a couple of feet down the hall and then took hold of her elbow.

"What was all of that about?"

"Nothing."

"Don't blow me off," I warned. "I'm not Hayes."

And maybe my tone was a little sharper than it should've been, but the hair on the back of my neck was standing at attention.

Something was wrong.

"And I'm not a suspect, so back off with the interrogation," she snapped back.

Ouch.

I took a deep breath and relaxed my stance.

"Let's try this again," I said.

"I came over here because we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"Allison Sundberg's lawyer has filed a complaint against you. Allison claims that you sexually harassed her when you had her in the interrogation room."

"She said what? That's crazy!" I fired back.

"According to the charges, she says that you…um…fondled her while she was handcuffed.

"And you believe it?"

"I'm not saying that I believe it. I'm telling you what she said," she corrected. "I need to get a statement from you, and one from Bernard, too."

"Fine. And while you're at it, get one from Ben."

Alex and Bobby passed us on their way into the squad room, but I barely recognized their existence.

I was so angry that I couldn't see straight.

I just stood there and glared at Connie, amazed that she could seem so calm while telling me that some woman had just accused me of something like that.

She quietly told Alex about running into Kevin as she'd come into the building, and then the two of them were off like a shot.

"Come in here," I said gruffly, shoving open the door behind me that led into another conference room.

She followed me in and closed the door.

"I didn't do anything to that woman. And you shouldn't need a statement from Bernard to tell you that."

"_I _don't need the statement. But I'm trying to protect your reputation. The word of a suspect against one cop, especially when the suspect is an attractive woman, well…it might look bad. I'm trying to get your word backed up so that there's no doubt."

And I knew that she was right.

But it still pissed me off.

"Lupo…I never considered for a second that it was true."

"And yet you don't trust me."

"Don't trust you? Of course I trust you."

"Just not enough to tell me why in the hell Hayes would care if you walked down the street in the middle of the afternoon!"

"You want to know what happened? Fine. I got a threatened, okay? Some macho asshole called me and said that he was going to kill me. Hayes overheard it because she was there picking up a warrant. Happy now?"

Happy?

I was about as far from happy as I could get.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"It wasn't…it didn't…"

"When were you going to tell me," I interrupted, stating each word slowly and carefully.

"If it happened again," she admitted.

"But what if it didn't happen again?" I asked. "What if _that_ was your warning? He could've been watching the office, just waiting for you to leave. And then what, Connie?"

"What am I supposed to do? Stay inside? Never go anywhere without you? What?"

"Just _tell_ me. I could've pulled the LUD's to see if I could find the caller. I could've questioned the arsonist you just sent to Rikers to find out whether or not he's behind it. I could've done something."

And there it was. My biggest fear.

Feeling powerless.

"Can we…focus on the other thing right now?" she asked me quietly. "Because I don't want to go to her arraignment and have it still hanging over our heads. I want it handled before then."

"Fine. I'll get Bernard and Ben and we'll all give you our statements."

"Thank you. We'll come back to that…"

"Yes we will," I said as I grabbed onto the door knob. "I'll be right back."

"Lupo."

And just the sound of her saying my name in such a sad, soft voice…I hesitated and took a deep breath.

"I'm not trying to be a bully here," I said at last. "I just…Connie, do you have any idea how much that scares the shit out of me?"

I turned back towards her as I said the words, and she nodded at me, but I realized that she looked scared.

And then I had the horrifying thought that she was afraid _of me_.

_That's just fucking great, Lupo. _

I whirled around and jerked hard on the door knob, escaping from the room before I could say anything else.

I stormed down the hall, mentally berating myself for my temper the entire way, and then I proceeded to take out my mood on Hayes.

"You knew and didn't tell me?" I yelled.

I knew I was being a jerk, but I couldn't stop myself. I had too much running through my brain.

Connie had someone call her and say he was going to kill her?

Allison Sundberg had said I'd fondled her?

And worst of all, I'd lost my temper so much that Connie was afraid of me?

Was she actually afraid that I would hurt her?

I couldn't stomach the thought, even as accusations flew out of my mouth at Hayes.

I wanted her to be the bad guy here. Anyone but me.

Bernard called me out on it.

"What did you want her to do?" he asked me as he moved in front of me. He was protecting her. _From me_. I was really losing it. "Break Connie's confidence? I'd think if you're going to be mad at someone, it would be her."

"Okay," I said at last. "Okay, I'm sorry. I just…I need to know these things."

Just like I'd needed to know when my mom got cancer.

And when the girlfriend I'd thought I loved started sleeping with my brother.

And when my brother got into trouble and got himself killed.

Yeah, because it all turned out so well as long as I _knew_, right?

"Then tell _her_ that you need to know," Hayes asserted. "Because I suggested it and she shot me down."

"She is pretty hard-headed," Ben spoke up.

And how was it that he was staying calm? Yeah, probably because Connie and I had both browbeat him the other night over this very same thing. We were both in careers that sometimes brought about dangerous situations.

"I know," I said.

"So what's this threat all about?" Bernard asked me.

But I couldn't deal with that now. Connie was safe and in the building.

So instead, I filled him in about Allison Sundberg.

"She says you did what?" Ben asked. "When? Because I was with you guys almost the entire time."

"I know. That's why Connie wants to get a statement from you. Me, denying it, only goes so far."

"Let's go," Bernard agreed quickly. "We can get those out of the way and then get back to this."

"Okay," I said with a nod. I took another deep breath in an effort to decrease the pounding in my head. "And Hayes…I'm sorry. I was wrong to blame you for that."

"Hey, no problem," she said quickly. "If it helps, I was going to tell Alex later. Eames suggested telling one person I could trust, and so I was going to take it to her and get her opinion. I kind of got the feeling that all of you guys look out for each other, so…"

"Yeah. We do," I replied, feeling even more like an ass.

We headed back for the other conference room where Connie was waiting.

"Give me just one minute," I said to Bernard and Ben.

"Why, you've got to apologize to her, too?" Bernard asked me.

"Don't ride him," Ben said. "At least he's willing to do it."

I smirked at both of them and then swallowed my pride and went into the room.

"You're alone?"

"They're waiting in the hall. I just wanted to…I needed to…Connie…"

"It's fine, Lupo"

"No, it's not fine," I said as I walked closer to her. And despite being at 1PP, I still picked up her hand and brought it to my lips. "I unleashed my temper on you. You didn't deserve that."

"You were scared. It's understandable. And I shouldn't have kept it from you."

"_You_ were scared," I argued. "Of _me_."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, I've never been afraid of you."

"Are you sure? Because when I left earlier…"

"I just hate fighting with you. And I hate that every sleazy defendant can just make up an accusation and then it puts good cops, good _men_ like you on trial. And I hate that I was going along, having a really great day, and then some guy just calls up my office and says things like that…I hate all of that."

As she finished talking, she pulled me closer to her and I gratefully wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Me, too."

"I guess it freaked me out a little, thinking about what could've happened."

"I know."

I continued to hold her tightly, breathing in her scent, and thanking God that she was a part of my life.

"Are we okay?" I asked her.

"We're good."

"So you were having a great day before all of this?" I asked softly, not ready to release her yet. I wanted a feeling of normalcy before jumping back into the frying pan.

"Well, yeah. I mean, after last night…and then Hayes came by to get the warrant, but first she wanted to apologize to me."

"You seem to be getting a lot of that lately," I joked.

"Yeah, well, this one was about you. She was mortified over what Sean had said."

"Tough to blame her though, huh? I mean, I am quite the catch," I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's actually not you," she said, and I couldn't see her face, but I could hear her smiling.

"I told you that last night."

"I know, but now she told me that. In fact, she told me who it is."

"Yeah? So I guess you guys are buddies now."

"I hope so. I like her. She seems nice."

"You were having a good day then."

"Uh huh. And then there's that other thing."

"What other thing?"

"I made up my mind."

"About what?" I asked, although I had a feeling that I knew what she was talking about.

And for some reason, I was nervous about her answer.

I'd finally asked her last night even though it had been on my mind for weeks, and she'd said she'd think about it.

"I want to take your name," she said quietly. "That is, if that's okay with you."

"I'm just amazed that you still want to marry me," I admitted.

But I was suddenly happy again. Very, very happy.

"Of course I do," she said, pulling back to look me in the eye. "Did you think…just because we had a disagreement…"

"I yelled at you."

"Yes, you did. And I'm sure it won't be the last time. I'll probably yell at you from time to time, too. It doesn't make me love you less."

"But my temper…"

"Is not nearly as bad as you seem to think it is. I'm not so damaged from my past that I can't handle being in an argument. You don't need to treat me with kid gloves just because you found out about that, okay?"

Instead of answering, I kissed her.

I was blowing my hard and fast rules of professionalism all to hell today.

The door opened and we quickly stepped away from each other, but apparently we weren't fast enough.

"I told you," Ben said as he walked in and sat down at the table. "Pay up, Bernard."

"In 1PP, Lupes? Really?" Bernard said on a laugh. "You just cost me twenty bucks."

I got out my wallet and threw a twenty down in front of Ben.

"Does this cover you, B.?"

"Yeah."

"Good," I replied. Then I flashed Connie a grin before sitting down at the table. "Best twenty dollars I ever spent."

TBC...


	47. Chapter 47

**Alex POV**

* * *

As mad as I was at Kevin, I could still understand.

He wanted to end this nightmare in which he'd currently found himself.

And he didn't need anyone to tell him that the nightmare was of his own doing.

He knew it.

If he hadn't started doing drugs, then he most likely would never have gotten onto Tomlin's radar.

He wouldn't have his kids in Connecticut and his wife at the police station while he was scouring the streets of Hell's Kitchen looking for a killer.

Because that was _our_ job.

Mine and Bobby's.

And I didn't need any amateur trying to step up to the plate, much less my own brother

He was going to get himself killed.

What did he think he was going to do if he found Tomlin?

He didn't have any weapons.

_Or did he?_

Had he stopped somewhere and gotten something?

He'd had a gun in his car. We'd confiscated that one, but did he have one at his house, too?

Or did he know someone who had one, someone who would loan it to him?

Probably.

Because as much as I liked to think that my brother lived in a fairy tale world, he was actually just like the rest of us.

He knew bad people as well as good.

He made questionable choices as well as smart ones.

But this latest choice…definitely not his brightest moment.

And we had to catch up to him before he found Tomlin.

Bobby was quiet for most of the drive. I knew he was giving me time to get my head right. There was no room for anger at a time like this.

"Are you good?" he asked me when I parked on the cross street of the two alleys where we'd found victims.

Kevin didn't have his car with him, since he'd ridden in with Dad, so we didn't have any indication of whether or not he was here.

I turned off the car and looked at Bobby. Staring into those brown eyes had gotten me through many a crisis, even back in the old days.

Somehow it always helped, just knowing that he was with me, and today wasn't any different.

"I'm good," I confirmed.

"Are you sure? 'Cause, you know, we can…"

"Hole up in the apartment for twenty-four hours?"

"Maybe," he replied with a grin. The knot in my stomach eased slightly, even though I knew that we really didn't have any choice. "Okay, so not right _now_. But soon."

"Definitely."

We got out of the car and headed for the alley, the one where Dom had been found.

"I wonder if there's access from any of these buildings into the ones on the next alley over," Bobby mused as we silently walked down the alley.

"You're thinking Tomlin found a vantage point for both alleys."

"Maybe. I think you hit on something at the Bradley scene. I think he likes to watch."

"That would fit in with the behavioral parameters of pyromania."

"Uh huh," he agreed, catching my eye with something that looked like surprise.

"What? I pay attention. You're not the only one who knows the markers."

"I never suspected that I was," he said innocently. I flashed him a quick smile, but then we got serious again as we entered the dilapidated building.

The interior was in shambles. It was hard to tell what it might have looked like in its heyday because of the crumbling columns and torn-up walls which showed exposed old wiring and insulation.

"There are too many hiding places in here," I muttered as I drew my gun. I felt itchy and on-edge. And I definitely felt eyes on me.

Bobby pulled his weapon, too, and we stayed together, carefully clearing each section.

"I'm thinking that maybe there's an access point around here somewhere," he remarked as we got to the back wall of the building. "This building would butt up against the one facing the other alley."

With my gun still in my right hand, I used my left hand to cautiously thump along the wall.

We both heard it at the same time.

"You found it," Bobby said quietly. He put his gun back in its holster and used both hands to feel around the area. After a moment, he pulled back part of the sheetrock.

"The secret lair of a serial killer," I remarked as we slipped through the doorway from one building into the other. "This is the building where you found that butt. So he was in here watching, and then escaped by going out the adjacent alley."

"I should've looked more thoroughly when we were here before. I should've seen it."

"_We_ should've," I corrected.

"It doesn't explain the cars though. Where does he keep those?"

"He must have another place," I suggested. "Or maybe he kept them parked at the garage at Bentley's place."

He paused and looked at me.

"I didn't think about that. We need to send someone over there and check it out. Maybe that Chevelle is there right now."

"Or Tomlin's driving around in it. Because he's not here."

The words had barely escaped my lips when we heard a crash followed by repeated banging noises.

Bobby pulled his gun again and together we silently moved toward the ruckus, but the building was huge and it felt like it took forever as the racket continued.

My heart was in my throat, worrying about the origin of the noise.

Was Tomlin here?

Had Kevin found him and I was now listening to the sound of my brother being killed?

We reached a mostly collapsed doorway, and we hesitated before going through.

The sounds came from just inside.

We did a quick silent countdown and then burst into the room.

"NYPD!" I yelled as I scooted to the right to allow room for Bobby to come in behind me.

"Don't shoot!"

It was Kevin.

He stood in the middle of the room, holding a bloody pry axe.

"I should shoot you for being a dumbass," I grumbled as I put my weapon back in its holster.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"The better question would be how did you know about this place?" Bobby asked him.

"And what the hell did you think you were going to do?" I added. "And how do you think it's going to look, since you're standing there holding the murder weapon?"

"Jeez, Alex, I just found it, okay?" he said, dropping the axe. "Look at this place."

He gestured toward the walls, and I shifted my focus from him to the creative décor.

There were pictures and newspaper clippings, hand-drawn diagrams, and professionally drawn layouts.

"I didn't know for sure about this place," Kevin said as Bobby and I studied the homemade wallpaper. "I was telling Kendra about Dom and I remembered that he'd said Johnson had a spot where he'd come to cut up his shit, like if he made a big buy and then wanted to sell it small. It saved him from going home, and no one ever came this far back into this place."

"And you figured since Dom knew about it, then maybe Tomlin did, too."

"It makes a good hideout," he said with a shrug.

"Then you should have told us about it," I said angrily, turning my attention back to him. "What would you have done if Tomlin had been here?"

"I'm…I would've…"

And then I noticed the bulge in the front of his jacket.

"You've got a gun. Damn it, Kevin! We're trying to keep you out of trouble and you keep digging yourself in deeper!" I yelled as I shoved aside his jacket and took the handgun from where it was tucked in his waistband. "You already have one charge pending against you for carrying an unlicensed firearm. Where the hell did you get this?"

"Don't be so condescending," he fired back. "I'm trying to protect my family. I can't get on with my life until this guy is off the streets."

"Then give us the information and let us do our jobs."

"Um…Alex," Bobby said.

I continued to glare at Kevin, mad as hell with him and yet wanting nothing more than to give him a hug. He was in desperation mode.

"That's easy for you to say," Kevin argued. "If you get into trouble, you handle it yourself because you're the _cop_. What would you do if you had to hand over control to someone else?"

"Alex," Bobby said again.

"What is it?" I asked, finally turning around to see what had caught his eye.

He was flipping through pictures that were sitting on a box. One at a time he handed them to me.

Me. Me and Bobby. Me and Liz.

"These are from when we found Dominick," I said in surprise.

I mean, I guess I'd known that he might be watching, but he was photographing us?

Why?

"There are more," he said, handing me several more pictures.

Hayes. Sean. One shot had me, Bobby, and Bernard, with Sean and Hayes in the background.

"These were just this morning," I mumbled. "He took them and printed them out already."

"The ones on the wall," Bobby said. "Kevin's house, one of Kevin coming out of the firehouse…and I don't know, but I'm guessing these are some guys on that list. Kevin?"

Kevin stepped up closer and began pointing to faces and providing us with names.

The list he'd made had thirteen men.

There were pictures of nearly thirty firefighters.

"So all of these guys…" I muttered. "They're all on drugs?"

"Or he feels slighted by them for some reason," Bobby suggested. "Like Sabin."

"But why the pictures of the cops doing the investigating?" Kevin asked.

"This is his way of reliving it," Bobby said. "The newspaper articles, the pictures…"

The sound of footsteps echoed through the room.

I turned to Kevin and held up my finger to my lips as I drew my weapon.

It had to be Tomlin. Who else would come in here? I motioned for Kevin to move to the side of the room and then Bobby and I took positions on either side of the doorway.

I didn't breathe at all as the footsteps got closer and then at last a dark head poked through the small opening.

"Don't move, Tomlin," Bobby said.

He looked up at us, frozen for a moment.

He was most definitely the man from the sketch.

"No, please move," Kevin said. "I'd love to see them shoot you dead."

"Kevin Eames, the cokehead fireman," Tomlin said.

"Come all the way in the room, Tomlin. Do it slowly."

"I met your brother yesterday," Tomlin continued, still not moving from his spot at the edge of the doorway. "I hope he's not too crispy."

"He's fine. It would take more than the likes of you to take him down."

I took a step closer to the doorway with my gun still aimed at Tomlin's head.

"Show us your hands and come into the room," I repeated.

I eased one more step forward and that was when he turned and ran.

I'd known it was coming.

If I was a psychopath, I'd have done the same thing.

We were inside of the interior room with an inadequately sized door. He'd be halfway across the building by the time Bobby and I could get through it.

And he was.

I slipped through the opening and took off running, knowing that Bobby would catch up once he cleared the doorway. I could see Tomlin heading for the alley exit rather than the passage to the next building.

"Stop!" I called out, not believing for one second that he would actually stop. "NYPD!"

I could hear Bobby's thundering footsteps coming up behind me as I closed in on the exterior door. Tomlin had passed through just a moment before, so we were making headway. I had no doubt that Kevin was right on Bobby's heels, even though he had to know I'd skin him later for getting involved.

I pushed myself as hard as I could, moving faster than what was safe across the broken floorboards, but unwilling to let him go.

_Not now…not when we were so close to capturing him_.

I heard the crack too late to do anything but fall.

"Alex!" I heard Bobby shout, even before I landed hard on the basement-level wooden floor.

I let out a grunt as the air was forced from my lungs due to landing flat on my back.

I'd apparently triggered a major collapse because two-by-fours and plank flooring rained down around me.

"Alex!" he called again, but I couldn't respond because I still couldn't get my breath.

I could hear the panic in his voice and I wanted to reassure him, but just when I was finally able to suck in a ragged breath, one last piece of flooring came hurtling down towards me, and my world went black.

TBC...


	48. Chapter 48

**A/N: Everyone's jumping to conclusions...calling me evil...thinking I'd leave you on a cliff over the weekend...well, yep I am :) Sorry, but we'll get back to the other part of this story on Monday! **

**Logan POV**

* * *

Carolyn drove us to Chesley's house while I stared out the window.

Mentally, I was in a better place than I'd been when we were handed this case, but it was still tough.

I still kept picturing myself growing up in her home.

"Why do you think she's not making those boys go to school?" I asked. "That doesn't really fit, does it?"

"My guess is that she's keeping them busy with other things."

"She's risking their scholarships. They sent a letter home about that."

"Maybe she didn't know about the skipping school until the letter came," she posed.

"What, and she punished them by making them commit murder?" I asked, finally breaking my gaze from the passing landscape and instead turning to look at Carolyn. "You think it's some kind of twisted form of discipline?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "But if there were only three perps, then we really need to talk to the fourth boy. There's no way he doesn't know what's going on with his brothers."

"Assuming it's them."

"Well…yeah. Isn't that what we're assuming? I mean, with that jade chip…it almost has to be the same perpetrators as the last time. Or at least the same person behind it. Don't you think?"

"You mean is it possible that the jade Indian statue stolen during a murder five years ago is now used as a murder weapon in a similar type crime and yet the suspects are non-related?"

I couldn't even say it without laughing.

And I don't mean because it was funny.

It was just too ridiculous to consider anyone else.

It simply _had_ to be them.

Now we just had to get one of them to crack.

We needed someone to speak out against the others, and Carolyn was right. If only three boys had been at the Matherly home, then the fourth was our ticket.

"What shoe sizes did that tech say?" she asked me.

"Eight, nine and twelve. What are the odds that the sizes correspond to their ages? The youngest is Lonnie. You think he's the eight?"

"Jesse was pretty tall. Going with your theory, that would mean that he'd be the nine, but I don't know. I'm thinking he'd be bigger than that."

"We need to get a look at their feet," I mumbled.

"Of course, two of them could wear the same size," she continued. "Just because the other boy wasn't at the crime scene doesn't mean that his shoes are different."

"No, but we can at least narrow it down to two, right? And then we'll talk to them. There's a reason why boy number four didn't go to that house."

"He's not trusted yet," she suggested.

"That's what I'm thinking."

Carolyn turned the car onto Chesley's street and we were surprised to find flashing lights.

A crowd had gathered out on the road and there were two black and whites along with an ambulance.

"I do not have a good feeling about this," I said quietly as we got out of the car.

We headed up the street to where an officer was keeping a crowd at bay.

"Detective Logan, Major Case. What happened?" I asked him as I showed my badge.

"Hit and run," he answered. "What, Major Case is so bored now that they need to jump in on something like this?"

"Why, because a hit and run is no big deal?" Carolyn fired back. "How come you're just standing here instead of talking to the witnesses?"

"Nobody ever sees anything around here," he said dismissively. "If you want it, take it."

The cop glared at her, but we brushed past him and went around to where the paramedics were working on the victim.

A boy, approximately fifteen or sixteen years old.

And if I hadn't already had a sick feeling in my stomach, I'd certainly have one now.

Because I was pretty sure I knew who he was.

"Let's move him," one EMT said.

Together with his partner, they put the boy in the back of the bus. Then one of them moved around to the driver's side while the other one climbed into the back.

I put my hand on the door to stop him from closing it.

"Is he going to make it?"

"Not a chance in hell," he replied after quickly glancing around to make sure no one was listening.

"ID?"

"Sam Saelens. Or at least that's the name on the books in the backpack," he answered, nodding his head in the direction of a backpack that was sitting next to him.

Sam Saelens.

I'd seen his picture in the Child Services file, although he was a little older now.

He'd been placed with Chesley Watkins three years ago at the age of thirteen.

"Do you mind?" I asked, grabbing for the bag. "Mike Logan, Major Case. This boy was a potential suspect."

"Um…I don't know about that. I'm supposed to keep it with him."

"Where's the family?"

"No one around here claimed him. Come on, man, we need to go."

"I'll keep this. Tell the hospital that his foster mother is Chesley Watkins. Let them make the notification."

"Look, Logan, I don't care who you are. I have to keep his possessions with him."

"It's potential evidence in an ongoing murder investigation. Did you see the news about what happened in Murray Hill?"

That got his attention.

"This kid? Did that?"

"That's what we're trying to find out. Are you going to cut me some slack, or not?"

"Yeah, okay. The bag got left on the sidewalk, okay?"

"I hear you," I said still holding onto the coveted backpack. "Which hospital?"

"St. Vincent's."

I moved away and closed the door, slapping my hand against the back to let the driver know that he was clear to go.

"Did you see his feet?" Carolyn asked me softly. There was still a crowd around, and I scanned it quickly for any sign of the other boys.

"Smaller than mine," I replied. "But not too small."

"So…ten?"

"Or eleven. Tops."

"He was our weak link."

"Uh huh. And she knew it."

Like I said.

Déjà vu all over again.

When one of her boys became a liability, she just found a way to take him out.

And knowing the way she worked, I was betting that she'd made one of the other boys do it.

Chesley's house was four blocks from the scene of the accident, so we paid her a visit. No one answered the door and everything seemed quiet.

"Odd, when the boys are out of school, don't you think?"

"Sweetheart, everything about this case is odd."

I wanted to go over to the hospital, but not just yet. We wanted Chesley to have time to get the official notification, and then to go claim the body. I wanted to catch her in that environment.

Her and the other boys.

I wanted to see which one was the most upset by this latest turn of events.

So we spent the next hour talking to neighbors.

"Okay, so we've got a red sedan," Carolyn began as we walked back to the car. "Or a burgundy mid-size. A black Taurus. And…a green Camaro."

"Green Camaro?" I asked with a smirk as we got in the car. "That's not even close to the other descriptions. What was that guy smoking? I might need to hit him up for something later."

She chuckled and started up the engine before glancing at me again.

"No one that I talked to got a look at the driver. You?"

"Nope. Most of them only saw the car as it was driving away."

"Did you see the skid marks on the road?" she asked.

"No."

"Exactly. Me neither. This was definitely not an accident."

I unzipped the backpack and started looking through the boy's things.

"Calculus," I commented. "He was sixteen, right?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "Tenth grade."

"He was smart. Look, Physics, too. I never even got to that as a senior, much less a sophomore."

"That's because you were more interested in girls," she teased. I smiled at her and waggled my eyebrows before digging back into the backpack.

I didn't want to talk about why my studies had suffered in high school. And I wasn't going to blame anyone but myself for that.

I'd had plenty of girls.

And I mean that in the most literal, carnal sense.

But none ever stayed on my mind after my pants were zipped because there was no way I was ever going to let anyone get too close.

No, I didn't get good grades in school because I flat out did not care.

I never actually expected that I'd live to see the age of twenty anyway, so what difference did it make?

"Well, well, well…lookie here," I said, pulling out a catalogue from the bag. "_Important Americana_. Now this doesn't look like the preferred reading of a teenage boy."

"It could be for school," she posed.

"It could be."

"Or it could be his homework," she said knowingly. "So that he'll know what's art and what's crap."

"Exactly."

We were both quiet for a minute and then she blew out a breath in frustration.

"Mike, everything we know points to them, but do we really have anything concrete? I mean, it's not against the law to have a thing for art. Or to skip school from time to time. Chesley's walking the line, staying just on the right side of legal."

"We need to find some of the stolen goods. Or find prints. Or DNA. Something. Because if we don't, eventually she's going to kill them all off and start over again next year."

My phone rang when we were halfway to St. Vincent's.

It was Lupo.

"I'm going to ask you something and you're not going to ask me why, okay?" he said when I answered.

"Okay," I agreed.

Anything to distract me from my case was perfectly fine with me.

I was already sitting with one hand on the back of Carolyn's neck, lightly kneading with my fingers.

It was probably more for me than for her, but it worked for both of us so I didn't worry about the professionalism.

Besides, we were in the car.

No one was looking.

"Just like that?" he asked, almost surprised by my willingness to play along.

"Sure. But I'm only going to be in the car for ten more minutes, so you'd better spit it out soon or I'll have to hang up on you."

"Yeah, okay," he said on a chuckle. "You worked Staten Island, right?"

"That's your question?"

"No, that's my qualifying question," he stalled.

"Lupo…"

"Yeah, I'm getting to it. There's an ADA out there. Lee Gingrich. Do you know him?"

"Um…yeah," I answered.

And now my curiosity was running rampant, but I'd promised, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Give me the rundown."

"Pretentious, condescending, entitled little prick," I said. Carolyn glanced at me curiously, but I just smiled at her. "Did you ever meet Ron Carver?"

"No, why?"

"Gingrich is his virtual clone."

"Huh. Okay. Is he still out there?"

"Last I heard. I can find out if you want."

"That would be great. On the DL, of course."

"Sure. I'll call you right back."

"No rush. Do your thing and just text me later. I'm not sure where I'll be."

"Yeah, okay. I really can't ask?"

He paused for a minute, and I had a feeling he was right on the edge of sharing.

Lupo wasn't big on asking for help or divulging personal information, but he was coming around.

And I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew why he was asking about Gingrich.

Because it's not like he'd been working any cases from Staten Island lately.

And Gingrich, despite being arrogant and annoying, was also a self-proclaimed lady's man and was roughly the same age as Connie.

And yeah, that was a lot of assumptions on my part, but it's not for nothing that I'm a detective.

"No," he said at last, although I could hear his reluctance. "But I may come back to it."

"Sure. And if you need any…you know…_muscle_…I'm your guy," I offered.

And I said it like it was a joke, and yet it really wasn't.

If this guy had done something that required payback, then I'd be more than happy to help.

Lupo barked out a laugh and thanked me before hanging up.

"What was that all about?" Carolyn asked.

"I can't say," I said with a grin. "Guy talk."

I leaned over and kissed her cheek, holding my lips against her smooth skin for several seconds before finally pulling back.

"Are you trying to charm me into dropping the subject?"

"Is it working?"

"You'll tell me later," she said knowingly.

That was her way of letting me off the hook. I knew that she wouldn't ask me again. She wouldn't push me to break a promise and she wouldn't hold it against me.

I was quite sure that I had the best wife in the world.

We found a place to park near the ER of St. Vincent's and we headed inside.

At the admit desk, was Chesley Watkins.

Alone. There was no sign of the other boys.

"He should have had his backpack with him," I heard her telling the nurse. "I'd like it please."

"Your son gets killed and you're worried about his school books?" Carolyn asked as the two of us closed in directly behind Chesley. "That's kind of cold, don't you think?"

"I think that my worries aren't any of your damn business," she responded as she turned around to face us. "Why are you here? No wait, let me guess. You were the one driving the car that killed my boy."

I kept my features schooled so as not to show any reaction to her low blow. She always managed to get in a good one.

"No, it wasn't us," Carolyn said carefully. "I'm thinking that maybe it was Willie. He has his driver's license, doesn't he?"

"Willie is at school."

"Um…no, actually he's not. We checked."

"You must have checked early this morning. He was late. They all were. They overslept this morning. Jesse and Lonnie left the house with Willie, and then Sam left about half an hour later. He hadn't finished his homework, so he spent a few extra minutes this morning getting it done. He was on his way to school when he was hit."

That sounded like a load of crap to me.

If Sam was smart enough to be taking advanced courses in the tenth grade, then he wasn't the type to put off doing homework until the morning.

I glanced at Carolyn.

She kept her gaze on Chesley and I wondered idly if she was working up some kind of voodoo curse in her mind. I knew she believed in that stuff and I also knew how much she hated Chesley, so it wouldn't surprise me.

"We have his backpack," Carolyn said evenly. "The EMT's accidentally left it at the scene."

"Accidentally," she repeated dubiously, reaching out for the bag. "They left it for you two to go through?"

"No ma'am," I said with forced politeness. "They were busy working on Sam and it got left behind. We found it and thought we'd bring it to you."

"You're going to pretend to have manners now? It's too late, Detective. I know your true colors. Both of you," she added, turning back toward Carolyn. "You two live together."

This time it was even harder to hide my reaction.

_How in the hell would she know that? _We certainly hadn't updated her on our relationship.

"We're married," Carolyn retorted. "It's common practice to live with your spouse."

"You were partners," she said, shaking her head in distaste and then looking Carolyn up and down. "What's the matter, girl? Did you finally realize that your best years were behind you? You had to settle down with a killer because you couldn't find anyone else?"

There was undercurrent going on here that I wasn't privy too.

It suddenly felt as though I was only a spectator because both women were studiously ignoring me and at Chesley's remark, Carolyn took two steps closer to her so that they were very nearly nose to nose.

Chesley couldn't back up because the admit counter was directly behind her, but she did stand up a little straighter.

She had Carolyn by a few inches, but most people did. It didn't bother her, and it never caused her to back down.

"You know about killers, don't you?" Carolyn said in a calm, quiet voice. "You've raised enough of them. You teach them that skill yourself, don't you? Is that how they earn your love? They prove their worth by seeing what kind of valuables they can bring home to you? Do they relive the moment for you, describing how they bashed in the skull of a child just to make you proud?"

The moment hung in the air between them as I stood and watched, waiting to see her reaction.

The tension was so high that I pushed my jacket aside and settled my hand on the butt of my gun.

Neither of them seemed to notice. In fact, it didn't seem like either of them breathed.

And then finally, Chesley broke into a smile.

She reached out a hand and before I could stop her, she touched Carolyn's pendant that hung against the outside of her sweater.

"That's a lovely necklace, Detective. Is that sapphire?"

"I'm sure you'd know," Carolyn answered.

"Yes," she agreed with a nod. "I would. Now if you'll excuse me, I have funeral arrangements to take care of."

"What the hell was that?" I asked in a low tone as Chesley walked away.

"A challenge."

TBC...


	49. Chapter 49

**Bobby POV**

* * *

I was only about twenty yards from Alex when I saw her go down, but it may as well have been a hundred for all the good I could do.

I called out her name and kept running, bent on…I don't know what.

Jumping down into the hole with her, I guess.

But Kevin reached out, grabbing onto the back of my jacket.

"Bobby, stop!"

"Alex!"

"I know! But the whole floor's going to go if we get any closer!"

"But she's _down there_," I argued, even though somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he was right.

If we sent more of the structure down on top of her, it could make it even worse.

She'd be crushed.

"We'll find another way down," he said firmly. "We'll get to her."

But I was in a panic.

She hadn't responded when I called her name.

Anything could've happened.

And how far down was the next level?

There was nothing standard about this building. It didn't have to be ten feet or twelve feet…it could be twenty or twenty-five.

I stood helpless as more of the floor caved in.

Kevin tugged on my coat, pulling me a few feet further back.

"Talk to her. I'm going to go around," he told me.

"She's not saying anything!" I yelled.

"She will," he assured me.

_We wouldn't have even been in this damn building if it weren't for you._

That's what I wanted to say.

But I didn't.

Because even in my panicked state, I knew that wasn't true. I just wanted someone to blame.

We would have come here anyway. She and I both had our suspicions about this place. And maybe it wouldn't have turned out like this, but still…

"Where are you going?" I finally asked. "Around where?"

"I'll find another way to get to her. It's what _I_ do, remember?"

He trotted off toward the perimeter of the room and I turned my focus back toward the hole.

"Alex!" I called out again.

But all I could hear was the fading sound of Kevin's footsteps.

**

* * *

**

Kevin POV

I'd tried to act calm while I was talking to Bobby, but the fact of the matter was that I was about to come unglued.

It was too much.

I couldn't do this anymore.

How many more mistakes was I going to make?

If I'd just stayed at 1PP, like I was supposed to, then Alex and Bobby wouldn't have come out here.

_But this is where Tomlin was hiding_, I argued with myself. They would've come here eventually.

_And she would've had to chase him and subsequently fallen through a floor? _

The rational side of my brain wasn't going to let me off the hook.

I was a fuck-up, plain and simple.

And now my wife, the one who would probably much rather divorce me than take me back into her bed, was pregnant with our _fifth_ child.

What kind of a role model had I been for the first four?

How could I reasonably bring another life into the world, knowing that in the end, I was going to fail this new child, too?

And was that the only reason why Kendra was willing to even try to keep our marriage alive?

Because of the baby?

_Wow, Kev, drama much?_

My inner voice sounded like Alex and it was a kick in the ass.

She was good at giving those.

Actually, she was good at just about everything, but right now, she needed my help.

I needed to quit feeling sorry for myself and find a way down below before something even worse happened to her.

What if she'd hit her head?

What if she'd broken her neck?

What if…I had to stop thinking it.

_Just move your ass, Kevin, and do your job_.

That voice was Sean.

And maybe I needed him in my head right now because he was the only one who wasn't being nice to me, wasn't easily forgiving me.

And I didn't deserve to be forgiven.

I could hear Bobby still calling to Alex, and the increasing worry in his voice told me that she hadn't yet answered.

I had to find something.

I'd assured Bobby that this was what I was good at.

And it was.

I'm a damn good firefighter, and I know how to get through a collapsing building and save the people inside.

This should actually be easy for me because this time there was no fire.

The fourth door I found along the edge of the building opened up to a stairwell.

"Bobby!" I yelled. "Stairs!"

I watched only long enough to see him take off in a dead sprint and then I went down the long flight to the basement level, which was damn near twenty feet below.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

I forced myself to stay focused and professional.

My partner was down.

I needed to call it in.

I called for a bus, and then I called CSU since we had most definitely found a hideout of our killer.

And in between, I continued to call Alex's name.

Her silence made me nauseous with fear.

_My partner's down_, I thought again.

My partner in everything.

"Bobby! Stairs!" I heard Kevin shout.

So I took off running.

Stairs.

That would take me to Alex.

I didn't let my mind consider what I might find.

Instead I just ran, faster than I've ever gone in my life.

I nearly went headlong down them as I grasped onto the doorway and made the sharp right turn onto the stairwell, but I held on until my feet cooperated and then I hustled down.

Twenty-seven steps.

That equated to a little more than twenty feet.

_Alex_.

I could barely see Kevin, who was now halfway across the darkened room.

The only light was that which came from the hole above the area to where Kevin was heading.

I kept running as I watched Kevin skid to a stop next to a pile of debris.

He bent over the pile and began tossing boards out of the way.

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

I struggled at first to remember exactly where I was.

I only knew that I was in darkness, covered completely by dead weight.

And then I remembered.

I'd fallen through the floor.

And then the floor had fallen on _me_.

I must have been knocked unconscious, but I knew it hadn't been for long.

And how could I possibly know that?

Because Bobby hadn't found me yet.

The thought of him had me working to move, but my limbs weren't cooperating.

Or maybe the wood was just too heavy. My chest felt constricted and I suddenly started focusing on just taking a good breath.

"Alex!"

The voice sounded far away and yet at the same time, I could feel the world around me moving.

"Bobby," I answered. And it was strange, because I'd meant to shout it out and yet it came out as a whisper. I tried again. "Bobby."

Suddenly I was looking up into the light from above. And then Bobby's face came into view over mine.

"Don't move her," I heard another voice say.

_Kevin_, I reminded myself.

_We're in this abandoned building because Kevin found Tomlin's lair. _

"She could have a neck injury."

"What hurts?" Bobby asked me as he gently ran his hand over my cheek.

"Everything," I managed to say. And I wasn't kidding. Every damn inch of me hurt. But the worst was my shoulder. "I think maybe I dislocated my shoulder."

"Okay," he said soothingly. "It's okay. An ambulance is on the way. We'll get you fixed up."

"Tomlin?"

"I'm not worried about him right now," he replied. And then he turned away from me for a moment. "Go up and check on that bus. It should be here by now."

Kevin hurried away and then Bobby settled his eyes back onto mine.

"Can you move your toes?"

"My neck is fine," I answered. "Help me up."

"Let's wait for the paramedics."

"Bobby, I'm fine. I just need to sit up. I can't…breathe…laying here like this."

"You're having trouble breathing?" he asked in concern.

"I just got the wind knocked out of me."

I was sure that it wasn't more than that.

I probably had a lump on my head and the shoulder injury and that was about it. Considering how far I'd fallen, that wasn't too bad.

"Humor me," he answered as he took hold of my hand. "Please wait and let them check you out."

He brought my hand up to his lips and I heard him take in a ragged breath before he kissed my knuckles.

"I swear, I saw my life flash before my eyes," he whispered.

"That's supposed to be my line, isn't it? I'm the one who fell."

"Yeah, but if anything happened to you…my life would never be the same. I can't begin to put into words…the fear I felt…"

"I think I have an idea," I said, and then a shooting pain went through my shoulder, causing me to suck in a breath and bite down on my lip.

"What is it?" he asked quickly.

"I might have bruised a rib or something, too," I replied.

I saw colors swirling at the edge of my field of vision and I suddenly felt like I might throw up. I slammed my eyes shut against the feeling of vertigo and clutched tightly onto Bobby's hand.

"Alex…"

"I'm…dizzy…or…it's the head injury maybe…"

"Kevin!" he shouted.

I barely registered the thundering footsteps as my brother returned with the EMT's.

I mean, I _knew _they were there, but at the same time, I felt like it wasn't really happening.

"Ma'am, do you know your name?"

_Alex._

"She's nonresponsive," I heard him say. "Was she talking before?"

"Yeah," Bobby replied. "Just a minute ago. She seemed coherent."

I could hear the fear in his voice, thick and real, like it had taken on a life of its own.

_Say something_, I told myself. _Don't scare him like this_.

"Ma'am, can you tell me your name?"

I forced my eyelids open and no longer saw my husband's face but instead that of the paramedic. He was huddled over me, looking at me expectantly.

"Ma'am?"

"Alex," I finally said.

"Good. You're doing great. Can you tell me where it hurts?"

_My back. My shoulder. My chest. My head. _

"I'm fine. Just help me up."

I put my free hand down on the floor in order to push myself into a sitting position and I felt an intense pain rip through my back and up into my shoulder.

And even though it annoyed me to do so, I couldn't keep from crying out in pain.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

When she cried out, new fear rolled through me.

I'd seen her punched and shot and stabbed, but I couldn't remember ever hearing a sound like that come from her.

It wasn't one that I'd be forgetting any time soon.

"She's out," the paramedic stated calmly. "That's good."

"That's good?" I yelled. "How is that good?"

"She's in a lot of pain," he replied, ignoring my upset. "Now we can get her onto the gurney and upstairs without making it worse. I can't give her any pain meds until she's cleared for head trauma. Now please, sir, back up and let us do our job."

I moved slightly out of the way, but not much. One paramedic took her blood pressure while the other put on the c-collar in preparation for moving her. It seemed to be taking them forever and I fought the urge to just pick her up and carry her upstairs myself.

"She's hypotensive at ninety over fifty," he declared to his partner.

"Let's get the backboard under her. Are you ready?"

"I'll roll her. On my count…"

I felt Kevin's hand on my shoulder as together we watched them turn Alex onto her left side and then they slipped the board beneath her.

It was like I was living one of my worst nightmares.

"Whoa, hang on," one of them said as they settled her onto the board. "I think she's got…shit."

"What is it?" I asked, quickly stepping up to see what had caught his attention.

"She's bleeding. I think she's got some kind of…puncture wound maybe," he said, bending over to look at a board that now appeared attached to my wife's left side. He grabbed onto the board and pulled slightly.

"We've got to go, Derek," the one guy said, now suddenly sounding urgent. "It looks like she's got a nail embedded just below the rib cage."

"A nail?" Kevin asked in concern.

"I'd guess ten-penny," the guy continued. "Judging by the ones in some of those other boards."

Ten-penny. My wife had the equivalent of a three-inch steel spike stuck in her side.

But she hadn't said that her side hurt.

"She said her shoulder hurt," I told them. "And her chest. She didn't mention her side."

I watched as the paramedics shared a worried glance and then the two of them began hustling towards the stairs.

"What?" I asked as I hurried after them. "What does that mean?"

"We need to get her to the ER. Are you coming with us?"

"Yeah," I replied, my tone letting him know what a stupid question that had been. "Yeah, I'm coming. Kevin?"

"Go! I'll bring your car and meet you there."

TBC...


	50. Chapter 50

**Sean POV**

* * *

"I found him."

Hayes' voice was victorious and immediately caught my attention.

"What've you got?" Bernard asked her, moving in closer to look over her shoulder.

It was just the three of us in the room.

Kendra had looked exhausted, and frankly, a little unwell, so I'd sent her down to the third floor break room to take a nap on the couch.

Bobby and Alex hadn't come back yet with Kevin.

I hadn't thought it would take so long to question him, but maybe he was remembering some good stuff.

Or maybe he was being difficult.

I wasn't sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say the former rather than the latter.

Lupo had gone with Connie back to her office where they were going to prep for an in-chambers meeting with the judge about the charge against him.

Connie wanted to have it thrown out before it even became an issue, so she was going on the attack.

Ben had gone with them, ostensibly to stay involved, although Bernard had commented about it maybe having more to do with one of the paralegals.

So me and Hayes and Bernard had been burning our way through the files.

Until Hayes' announcement.

"Malcolm Thomas Rayburn," she said. "He flunked out of fire school last September, and his dismissal notice was signed by Joshua Sabin."

"Let me see that," I remarked, leaning in on the other side of her. There was a photo associated with the file. And she was definitely right. It was our guy.

"Check out the fine print," Bernard added. "Candidate was caught with unprescribed pain killers."

"That explains it all then, doesn't it?" Hayes said excitedly. "He was pissed at Sabin for flunking him, and now he's got a grudge against anyone who managed to do what he couldn't – be a fireman despite a drug habit. It's probably like pouring salt on the wound."

"Does it list an address?" I asked as my phone started ringing. She flipped through the pages while I grabbed my cell.

"It's Kevin," I said in confusion. I pushed the button and said, "What, this building's so big that you have to call rather than just come find me?"

"I'm on my way to St. Luke's," he said in a rush.

My blood instantly ran cold.

Was it Dad?

Or Mom? Had she had another stroke?

"Who?" I asked as I got up from my chair.

"Alex."

"What?" I yelled. "I thought you guys were in the building!"

"Sean, listen. I found Tomlin's hideout. It's in a building in the alley where Bradley was found. He was there, and we chased him…CSU is out there now, but Alex…"

"What happened?" I asked as my heart began to pound.

If Tomlin had done something to her…when I'd had him and let him get away…I'd never be able to live with myself.

"She fell through the floor. Bobby's with her in the ambulance. I'm not too far behind them. I don't know much yet."

"Was she talking?"

"Yeah. A little. For a minute."

"Shit, Kevin," I muttered, grabbing my coat.

"I know," he fired back. "I know this is my fault. You can kick my ass later, but for now…I didn't call anyone else. I just…"

"I'm on my way," I told him.

I hung up and found Bernard and Hayes staring at me.

"What's going on?" Bernard asked.

I explained to them what little bit I knew.

"I've got to get to the hospital."

"Go," Bernard said. "Me and Hayes will catch up to CSU and work the scene, and then we'll run down whatever we can get from this file."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Call us when you know something," Hayes said as I hurried out the door.

I could hardly think straight.

Alex was hurt?

Alex _never_ got hurt.

Or at least, not that she ever admitted.

If she'd allowed them to put her in an ambulance, it must be bad.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

The ride to the hospital was eternal.

I sat beside her, with one hand running through her hair and the other hand clasped onto hers.

"Bobby?"

Her eyes were still closed when she said my name, but then she opened them slowly and looked around for a moment before settling her gaze on mine.

"I'm here," I told her.

"My back hurts," she said in a voice so soft, so vulnerable that it didn't sound like her.

That almost scared me more than the hundreds of other things that had terrified me since that moment when she'd gone through the floor.

Because if she was telling me that it hurt, willingly without me asking, then it must be really bad.

_Of course, she's got a three-inch nail jammed into her_, I reminded myself.

"Hang in there, honey. We'll be there soon."

"What is it?" she asked me. "Did I break something?"

"Ma'am, you've got a nail lodged into your side."

I glared at the paramedic for offering up the information so callously, but he continued anyway.

"Once the doctor clears you for head injury, they'll be able to give you something for the pain, okay?"

Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears but she kept her gaze locked onto mine.

"You're going to be fine," I said with fake confidence.

Did she have internal bleeding?

Had the nail punctured her lung?

I forced myself to stop the tortuous thoughts and instead concentrated on Alex.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," I promised.

"I know."

"Two minutes out!" the driver called back.

"When we get there, you're going to need to check in at the admit desk," the guy told me. "The doctor will come and get you as soon as she's cleared."

"No, I'm staying with her."

"Sir, I know she's your partner, but…"

"She's my wife," I said firmly. "And I'm going in with her."

"The doc's not going to like that," he muttered, obviously deciding not to argue with me.

The doc could kiss my ass. I wasn't going to leave her alone.

"It's okay," she told me. "I'll be fine."

"Yes, you will. And I'll be right there to make sure of it."

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

There have been plenty of times in my life when I've been in pain.

A lot of pain.

Without a doubt, childbirth wasn't even one of the top three.

And after today, it was getting bumped down even further because at the moment, I was in excruciating, unrelenting pain.

I wanted to be unconscious again.

At least then there would be hope that the next time I woke up the pain would be less.

But that didn't happen.

Once I woke up in the back of the ambulance, I stayed fully conscious.

I couldn't move my head because I was strapped to this damn board.

I could've told the guy that I didn't have a neck injury. In fact, I'm pretty sure I _did_ say that. I could wiggle my toes and move my fingers.

But apparently they weren't taking any chances.

And the more I thought about the idea that I couldn't move, the more I could feel a panic setting in.

I was completely and utterly helpless.

My only saving grace was that I wasn't alone.

I concentrated on Bobby's eyes and tried to ignore everything else.

"Almost there," he said quietly, keeping his gaze on mine. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against my forehead. "You're okay. You're going to be okay."

"Are you trying to convince me of that? Or yourself?"

I managed a small smile, but only for a second before another jolt of pain rocked through me.

"We're pulling up now," the paramedic said. "Stay out of the way."

Once the doors opened, things happened too fast. Or maybe my brain was too slow. But I couldn't seem to process what was going on, so I simply focused on the feel of Bobby's hand in mine.

"Forty-two year old female sustained a twenty-two foot fall with brief LOC…BP is ninety over fifty…"

I tuned him out. I didn't need to know that they were announcing my age to everyone in the ER.

And I didn't want to think about my vitals.

"Sir, you're going to have to wait outside…"

"I'm staying with her," Bobby said firmly in his go-to-hell voice. I smirked at the sound, loving the fact that even though I wasn't _me_ at the moment, he was still _him_.

I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open any longer, and I felt the overwhelming urge to throw up. The gurney was turning around and moving so fast…but my head was spinning even faster.

And I couldn't feel Bobby's hand in mine any more, even though I was pretty sure it was still there.

All I could feel was the pain.

_Think about something else…_

So I focused on the conversation going on around me.

"He insisted on staying."

"That's fine. Sir, what's her name?"

"Alex. Alex Goren," I heard Bobby answer.

"You guys are cops?"

"Detectives," Bobby corrected.

"She's your partner?"

"And wife."

"Okay. You can stay. Just don't get in the way."

"Are you going to take that nail out?"

_Yes, please, for the love of God, take the nail out of my side._

"I have to assess her first. It's not critical to remove it just yet. I want to make sure that she doesn't have any head trauma and then I can give her something for the pain."

**

* * *

**

Kevin POV

I parked their department SUV illegally in the ambulance bay and then hustled into the ER.

I'd spent the drive second-guessing myself.

_If only I'd stayed at 1PP…_

I knew that Sean would be here any minute. Maybe he'd just pull his gun and put me out of my misery.

I ran through to the admit desk.

"Alex Goren," I said breathlessly.

"She's still in the trauma room," the nurse answered. "Have a seat and the doctor will find you when he's done."

"Kevin!"

I looked up and saw Bobby coming out of a room.

"How is she? Is she awake?"

He shook his head.

"She's drugged up. They're taking her up to surgery," he said in a low, measured tone. "The nail punctured her spleen. She's got internal bleeding…"

He broke off his statement and looked up at the ceiling for a minute before continuing.

"I can't…they kicked me out…I can't be with her…I have to wait."

"I know. She'll be fine," I told him, putting my arm around his broad shoulders. "At least it's something they can fix, right?"

"Yeah, they're going to take it out. And she had a dislocated shoulder, too. And bruised ribs…" He stopped again and ran his hand over his face. "I need a cigarette."

"Come on. Let's walk outside."

I looked back to the admit desk and told the nurse where we'd be in case word came down.

After getting her promise to find us, I walked with Bobby back out into the ambulance bay. I pulled a pack of smokes from my pocket and shook out two.

He took one and lit it up before leaning back against the brick wall.

Neither of us spoke for several minutes.

"The doctor popped her shoulder back into place," he said quietly after taking another drag. "She didn't make a sound. He said he'd never seen that happen before."

"She's the toughest person I know."

He nodded, but didn't say anything.

I felt guilty as hell.

I was trying to comfort him when I was the one who'd caused this whole thing to happen. He probably didn't want to be in the same state with me, but he was just too nice to say it.

"Do you want me to call someone? Logan?"

"No. I'll wait until she comes out of surgery. Then I'll be able to tell him that she's fine. Otherwise he'll just…worry."

"I know. I just thought you might want someone here with you."

"You're here."

"Yeah, but…"

"I don't blame you."

"How can you not?"

"We were chasing a suspect. One we wouldn't have found if it weren't for you. I mean, yeah, I wish you would've told us where you were going, but that part doesn't really matter. Even if you had, we would've all been standing in the same place when Tomlin came back. And Alex…being Alex would've been the first one through that doorway and the fastest one across the room. It just…happened. This isn't on you."

"This whole thing is on me."

"How far back do you want to go, Kevin? Back to when you first did coke? Back to when you met Dominick? How much blame do you want to take? Trust me, you haven't cornered the market on screwing up."

"Kendra's pregnant," I blurted out. I hadn't planned on telling anyone yet, much less Bobby, but I was suddenly desperate for him to understand my motivation. I needed him to know why it was so important for me to catch Tomlin and get my life back.

"That's good, right?"

"Unexpected. But yeah. It's good. I mean, as long as she'll take me back, which I think she's going to do."

"Congratulations."

The sound of screeching tires drowned out whatever else he might have been getting ready to say. I looked up to see Sean climbing out of his car and heading straight for me.

"You son of a…"

I didn't see the right hook coming, but it wouldn't have mattered.

I stood there and took it, grateful that someone had finally done it.

TBC...


	51. Chapter 51

**A/N: It turns out I'm a sucker for fudge. Pecans, please.**

**Liz POV**

* * *

Getting away from the city had been the perfect idea.

And Danny had admitted to me that he hadn't thought of it.

That, in fact, Mike had been the one to suggest it.

I'd be sure to hug Mike for that when we got back.

But even if he hadn't thought of it himself and even though we were in the Catskills in the spring, which was mud season and about the worst time to visit the area and even if it was unseasonably cold for this time of year and even though my work load was piling up while I was gone…even despite knowing all of those things, the trip was perfect.

Because we were alone.

Which meant that I could no longer hide from my feelings or from my husband.

And that was exactly what I needed.

The drive up on Wednesday had been pleasant. Fairly quiet, but still very nice.

Thursday we'd acted like newlyweds.

We'd studiously ignored all of our issues and instead focused on the physical.

We made good use of every available surface in our quaintly decorated room.

I even made a few mental notes of things that I was going to brag about to Alex and Carolyn at the next girls' night.

And no, I rarely gave out any kind of specific details, but I loved to toss out glimpses of what I had, of what they were missing.

And yeah, they had their own husbands.

But I had Danny.

Throughout all of my recent soul-searching and all of my indecisiveness I finally realized why I'd been having such a difficult time.

Because I loved him too much to do what I'd _thought_ I should do, which was walk away and hide somewhere safe.

It bothered me that my safety wasn't as important to me as him.

So Thursday we'd gone twelve rounds in the bedroom.

And Friday we'd just gone twelve rounds.

We'd gotten everything out in the open.

By Friday afternoon, I was exhausted, mentally and physically.

And yet I still felt better.

Because I'd told him my fears and he loved me anyway.

He didn't seem disappointed in me for my blame.

And I hadn't really considered the idea that he blamed himself even more than I did.

And I _definitely_ hadn't considered the idea that we were supposed to be partners in this.

In _all _of this.

In life.

My burdens were his and vice versa.

So when a crisis came around, we were supposed to work together to overcome it rather than shut the other one out.

And yeah, I should've known that.

But knowing and doing were two completely different things.

Somehow _doing_ seemed a lot harder.

And not necessarily realistic.

But it was just a matter of making the effort.

Danny, bringing me up here, was absolutely making the effort.

The idea that our marriage meant that much to him, that I meant that much to him…enough that he would walk out on his brand new job just so that he could try to save _us_…well, that was probably the most grand gesture that anyone had ever done for me.

So by Friday afternoon, I suddenly felt better. And I say suddenly even though it had taken me a month to get here. But it was like finally all of the pieces had fallen into place.

"We could take a walk," I suggested to him.

We'd finished our fighting and our make-up sex and I realized that we had barely left the room since we'd arrived.

"It's cold," he reminded me, although he looked intrigued by the idea.

"I don't mind."

We got into our coats and he took my hand as we headed for the door.

And then his cell phone rang.

It was only the second time it had rung since we'd been here. Surprising, maybe, but Danny had told his secretary and the commissioner that he was only to be interrupted in the case of an emergency.

And yet somehow Detective Bishop had gotten his cell phone number.

I'd never cared for the woman myself, and after her phone call I liked her even less.

She'd called to tattle on Bobby and Alex.

So when it started to ring today, he looked at me skeptically.

"I wonder what they did to Bishop this time," he said dryly as he reached into his pocket.

"It's hard to say. Knowing Alex, maybe my services will be required," I joked.

And the joke came out naturally. I hadn't even had to think about it. I found myself smiling at that knowledge. Silly, I know. But still…

"It's Bobby," he told me after checking the display. I nodded at him encouragingly. Bobby would only call if it was important.

"Ross," he answered. He was only quiet for a moment and when he spoke again, the alarm in his voice had me on full alert. "What happened? When? Where are you?"

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Alex got hurt. She's in surgery."

"For what? What happened?" I asked quickly.

Danny put the phone on speaker so that I could get the rest of the news at the same time.

"They're removing her spleen," Bobby said. "She fell through a floor and landed on a nail. She's got a dislocated shoulder, too."

"The nail punctured her spleen?" I asked. "How long was it?"

"Three inches."

"How much time from injury to surgery?"

"In my head? Years," he said, and I could hear the exhaustion in his voice. "But it was probably less than an hour."

"Which hospital?" Danny asked him.

"St. Luke's."

"We'll be there in two hours."

"I didn't call so that you guys would cut your vacation short. I just needed to let you know. Tomlin is still on the run. Bernard and Hayes are working the scene along with CSU. We've got an APB out on the car of his last victim. Sean's here with me now. He said that Hayes found Tomlin's file in the fire school records. He was kicked out for getting caught with drugs."

"So now he has a vendetta against firemen who use drugs," Danny said. "Any leads on where he's hiding?"

"No, but we know he has to have another place. We didn't find any blood in the building where he had the stash of pictures, although we did find the pry axe. Right as usual, Doc."

"How are you holding up?" I asked him, deflecting the praise.

"Kevin and Sean are here. They're keeping me occupied. She should be coming out of surgery pretty soon."

"Call us back when she's in recovery," Danny said. "So Bernard and Lupo are working this with you, too?"

"It was just supposed to be temporary," he replied. "Until they got another call. But then Lupo got accused of sexual harassment so he's working with Connie to handle that, and since Sean came to the hospital, Bernard stayed to work with Hayes. I'm sorry, sir. I know it's turned into a mess."

"It sounds like you're handling it just fine," he assured him. And I was proud of him for saying so because it actually did sound like things were a mess. "Keep us posted, okay?"

"I will."

"She's strong, Bobby. She'll be just fine. A splenectomy is fairly routine and the docs at St. Luke's are top notch," I told him.

We hung up with him and both of us hesitated, still standing next to the door.

"What do you want to do?" I asked him.

"I would love to spend the rest of the weekend here with you, doing more of what we did yesterday," he said.

"But…"

"But I really need to go back."

"Me, too," I agreed. "I need to see her for myself and make sure that she's getting the best care."

So instead of taking a romantic walk, we packed our bags. Twenty minutes later, we were back at the door.

"This was perfect, Danny," I told him. "Thank you."

"We'll do things like this more often. We don't need to wait for a crisis."

"I'd like that," I said with a smile. I kissed him, letting it linger for a minute or two just to be sure that my sentiment was conveyed. And then, to be doubly certain, when I pulled back, I said the words. "I love you. I'm sorry if it seemed like I forgot that for a little while."

"I know you didn't forget. Sometimes real life just gets in the way. But you're going to have to work a lot harder than that if you want to get rid of me. Because I'm not planning on going anywhere."

"Good to know."

**

* * *

**

Bernard POV

"We've got everything bagged and printed, Detective," one of the CSU techs said to me when Hayes and I arrived on-scene. "I think we're about ready to wrap it up."

"That's fine," I told him. "We're going to take another look around, but I've got bags if we see anything else we need to collect."

I didn't need the bevy of techs crawling all over the building. I was half-hoping that Tomlin might try to come back and he sure as hell wouldn't do it while there was a circus going on.

But I'd parked the car on the other block.

So once CSU was gone, the place would once again look empty.

And I didn't really think that he'd be back so soon, but it was a possibility. It probably depended on his level of desperation and whether or not he had another viable place to stay.

"So he was hanging out in here while the cops were outside investigating," Hayes remarked as we walked through the building. "He's got balls. I'll give him that."

"Don't mistake arrogance for balls," I said. "This guy just thinks he's too good to get caught. And he enjoys watching the spectacle that he creates."

"So basically he was a serial killer in the making," she concluded. "All he needed was a reason, right? And flunking out of firefighter school for drugs and then finding out that current firemen were actually _using_ drugs…that gave him his reason."

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

We continued through the maze of debris until we reached the room.

All of the items had been removed by this time, but I still wanted to get a feel for its location.

Because no blood had been found in the area which meant that the killings were taking place somewhere else.

"This is kind of creepy, huh?" Hayes asked me.

"Creepy is a good word," I agreed as I pulled out my flashlight. I stepped through the opening and then reached back to help Hayes. "Watch your step."

I grabbed onto her elbow until she was fully in the room with me.

"You think she's going to be okay?"

"Alex? Yeah."

And honestly, I had no idea. I hadn't heard a word about her condition, but I had to think positively. I wasn't going to let my mind go down any other path.

"I can't help but feel responsible," she said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because we had him," she said, looking at me like I was crazy. "Right there in the room with us. I should've just shot him when he came in."

"You had no way of knowing who he was at first. And once you did…well, it was too late by that point."

"I shot my gun. Twice. And I missed."

"You took aim through a wall of fire. Hayes…this isn't on you. This isn't on anyone. This building is an accident waiting to happen."

"Maybe," she replied, but she sounded unconvinced. "But if she's not okay…I'm not so sure I'll ever be able to forgive myself."

We stared at each other for a moment, standing together in that dingy little hole of a room.

"If you take on the weight of the world with every case, Hayes, you're going to have a very short career. You can't do that. You do your job to the best of your ability and that's all you can ask of yourself. Otherwise you'll get eaten up from the inside out."

She held my gaze and then gave me a slow nod.

"Spoken like the voice of experience," she said.

"I am that," I replied with a small smile. "Some time I'll buy you a beer and tell you all about it."

And I hadn't meant it to sound like a date. In fact, I was pretty sure that it didn't.

It was just one colleague offering advice to another.

But then she smiled at me and it was like a punch in the gut.

I remembered Lupo telling me about that feeling once. He said that sometimes it was physically painful for him when he looked at Connie.

At the time, I'd thought he was crazy.

Now I just wondered if _I _was the crazy one.

Because here I was, feeling like that, just because my now-partner had smiled at me.

Considering where we were and what we were in the middle of and the fact that she had a crush on my real partner…yeah, I was definitely crazy.

"I'd like that," she answered. "I think I'll take you up on that."

We stood still for another moment and then I forced myself to focus on our real purpose for being here.

"Okay, so I'm the killer," I began. "This is where I like to relive the crimes. So where would I do the actual killing?"

"Some place close," she said, getting into the groove with me. "You might want to revisit."

"I wonder how much more searching of the building Bobby and Alex did after they found this place."

"You think there's more here?"

"I think this place is a serial killer's Shangri La."

TBC...


	52. Chapter 52

**Connie POV**

* * *

I'm a non-violent person.

Really.

But when I had to sit there and listen to Allison Sundberg tell about how _my_ Lupo had supposedly felt her up…I wanted to kill her.

Seriously.

I can now perfectly understand homicidal urges.

Of course, I _didn't_ kill her.

I suppose that's the difference between me and the hundreds of people I've put behind bars.

I didn't act on my urges.

But still…she was an arrogant woman.

And for some reason, she seemed to think that retelling her story would pique Lupo's interest.

She stared at him the entire time.

Of course, Lupo didn't stare back.

In fact, he kept his gaze averted from everyone. I had a feeling that he was struggling with that murderous desire even more so than me.

I'd gotten statements from Bernard and my brother and then Lupo and I had left 1PP to go back to my office. Ben went the other direction, stating that he was going to grab some sandwiches before meeting us at my office.

"You people never eat," he'd grumbled. "That's what I like about elementary school. Lunch is on a schedule."

"You enjoy your career because you get to eat on time?" Lupo had teased him.

"Hey, we all have our priorities," Ben had replied with a grin.

I was pretty sure that the real reason he'd volunteered to get lunch was so that Lupo and I would have some time to ourselves.

It was nice of him, but we were okay. Lupo was still on edge about the threat and I was still a bit frazzled by the accusation, but _we_ were okay.

Which was why I pretended not to notice that he kept me positioned between him and the passing buildings for the entire walk back. And that he'd barely looked at me because he was too busy scanning the area for potential danger.

And he pretended not to notice that I couldn't keep up a conversation because I was mentally going over what I would say when we got to the judge's chambers.

"Detective Lupo," Mike had greeted Lupo when we got to my desk. I still had to call Allison's attorney about the meeting, but I figured that it would give us time to go over exactly how we wanted to handle things.

"Mr. Cutter," Lupo had replied.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Lupo looked at me inquisitively, and his look caused Mike to look at me, too.

"Is something going on?" he'd asked me.

Because I hadn't told him about the accusation.

It hadn't been so long ago when Lupo had gotten in trouble for sleeping with a murder suspect.

I mean, it _had _been awhile, but not when it came to things like this. A harassment charge would make things that had happened a year ago suddenly seem very important.

And I knew that Lupo had beaten himself up enough about that mistake, which was part of why I was so upset about this.

It _would_ be brought up again. The defense attorney _would_ pull his jacket.

"Our murderer is accusing me of groping her while she was handcuffed," Lupo told him.

And for some reason, that really ticked Mike off. At first I thought he was mad because I hadn't brought him up to speed, but then I realized that it was more than that. He was truly upset about the allegation.

"I've got corroborating statements to back up Detective Lupo's denial," I began. "And aside from that, Detective Lupo was never alone with Mrs. Sundberg."

"Call her lawyer," Mike had said firmly. "I want them in my office in an hour. We're all going to have a sit-down."

So I'd postponed our meeting with the judge and instead made the arrangements for Allison and her lawyer to come to the office.

When they arrived, he'd given Allison the floor to tell her side of the story.

Thus my murderous rage.

And then Mike had sat back in his chair and stared at her.

"Mrs. Sundberg, what is your purpose for making these allegations?" he asked her.

"Purpose? Because it happened."

"No, it didn't. So I want to know what you think you're going to get out of it. Is it just payback because he got you to confess?"

"No, I…"

"Because here's how I see it. Miss Rubirosa gave you a sweet deal by combining the two murder charges. If you insist on pushing forward with this outrageous allegation against Detective Lupo, then we'll be forced to go to court so that he can defend himself. Which means no deal. We'll also add the stalking charge that Detective Bernard filed against you in relation to Detective Lupo, in addition to the fact that once you make your statement about the harassment in open court, it will become perjury. Suddenly your twenty-five years turns into at least fifty, if not more."

I had to work had to contain my surprise at the idea that my boss was taking it to her like this.

I mean, I knew he had it in him.

I'd seen him play hardball on many occasions. I'd just never seen him go to bat for a detective quite like this. Especially not Lupo.

Not when I still got the feeling from time to time that Mike felt like Lupo was the reason that he and I weren't together.

"You're going to renege on your deal?" the attorney said.

"The deal was that she go to court and allocute to her crimes. Now that she's committing _more_ crimes by filing a false report, then the deal is off the table."

"Okay," Allison said quietly.

"Okay what?"

"Okay, fine. He didn't do anything. I made it up."

"Allison," the lawyer said harshly.

"Shut up, okay? I made it up. I want the deal."

"So you agree to withdraw your accusation?"

"Yes."

"I've got to ask," Mike said as he continued to stare at her. "What made you even try something like that?"

Allison let out a heavy sigh and then looked at Lupo for a moment before looking back at Mike.

"He ignored me," she said simply.

"So you made advances toward him?"

"Yeah," she said with a shrug. "But he blew me off. And _nobody_ blows me off."

She punctuated her statement by getting up from her chair and then glaring at her lawyer until he stood up, too, and together the two of them left the office.

"The ego on her," Mike said with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, well, thank you," Lupo said to Mike. "Really." He got up and shook his hand and then glanced at me. "I need to check in with Bernard."

He stepped out of the room and I lingered for a moment.

"I really do appreciate that, Mike."

"It was the right thing to do. You and I both know that Detective Lupo didn't do anything. Having his record brought to light would have only made things worse. We needed to nip it in the bud."

"_I _know that he didn't do anything. I'm wondering how _you_ know."

"Because why would he ever look at anyone else when he's got you, Connie?" he replied quietly.

Never let it be said that Mike Cutter doesn't know how to be sweet. His words brought a smile to my face as I thanked him one more time and then left his office.

"Everything okay?" I asked Lupo when I found him at my desk.

He was tucking his phone back into his pocket and reaching for his jacket. I knew that his whole afternoon had been wasted because of that unfounded allegation.

"No," he said. He picked up my jacket, too, and held it out for me. "Bernard said that Alex is in the hospital."

"What happened?" I asked as I quickly slipped into my coat and followed him into the hall. I didn't even tell Mike that I was leaving. Of course, it was after four already, but still…

I gestured at Ben, who was in with Stephanie, and he caught up to us at the elevator.

"I don't know details, but Bernard said that everyone is at St. Luke's in the surgical waiting room waiting for her to come out of recovery."

And Bernard really hadn't been kidding when he said that everyone was there.

The only two I didn't see were Mike and Carolyn.

"What's the word?" Lupo asked as we entered the waiting room.

"Nothing yet," Bernard said. But then Liz came in right behind us.

"She's in recovery, but she hasn't opened her eyes yet," she said. "But I spoke with the surgeon and he said that everything went well."

She filled us in on the details.

"How's Bobby holding up?" I asked.

"I haven't seen him," she admitted. "They won't let me in, and he's not coming out."

"That sounds about right," Ross said with a wry grin. "I'm sure he's planted himself next to the bed."

"Where are the Logans?" Lupo questioned. I was surprised by their absence, too.

"They went down to get coffee for everyone," Sean said.

"I'll see if they need some help," I stated, turning to give Lupo a quick kiss on the cheek before heading off to find the cafeteria.

There were nearly twenty of us, so I couldn't picture them carrying enough for everyone. More than likely, Mike had just needed a moment to collect himself. I knew how much he loved Alex, and this was probably harder on him than just about anyone.

"I'll come, too."

I turned to find Alicia following me into the hall. Sean's wife. I'd met her on several occasions and liked her quite a bit.

"I hope you don't mind. Standing around was driving me crazy."

"Not at all," I assured her.

"I was going to go with them earlier, but Logan looked like he needed to be alone," she added as we headed for the elevator.

"How's Sean doing?"

"He's beating himself up. Kevin, too. Everyone wants to take the blame."

"I suppose that's better than everyone deflecting it," I mused.

"Maybe. Mary's even blaming Johnny for pressuring Alex to be a cop in the first place," she said in a conspiratorial voice. I had yet to meet Alex's mother, although I'd recognized her as such right off.

"I can't imagine anyone changing Alex's mind about anything."

"Exactly," she agreed. "They're just worried. But Cathy said that a splenectomy isn't too serious. I mean, she might be more prone to get infections now, but otherwise she should be fine. It could've been a lot worse. She's got a mild concussion and a dislocated shoulder to go along with it."

"The hard part will be keeping her in the bed."

"You know her well," she said on a laugh.

"I like to think so."

"What about Hayes?"

"What about her?"

"Do you know her well?"

"Honestly? I just met her yesterday."

"Oh."

She was quiet as we went through the cafeteria doors and then it finally hit me what she'd been getting at.

"She's nice," I said. "And from what I understand, a very good cop."

"Yeah?"

"Are you worried?"

"About her watching Sean's back? Not really. He wouldn't tolerate incompetence. If he thought she was dead weight, he'd request a new partner."

"You're worried about her because she's good looking."

"Ah, so it's not just me who noticed," she said with a small smile. "Silly, I know, to worry about his fidelity instead of his safety. I mean, I _do_ worry about his safety, but…oh, never mind."

She sighed and shook her head, apparently annoyed with herself.

"When we met yesterday, there seemed to be a misconception that she had a thing for Lupo," I told her. "She came to my office first thing this morning to apologize and to assure me that she didn't work like that."

"Why the misconception then?"

"Apparently, it was Sean," I said with a grin.

"So he thought that, and then he told you?"

"He told everyone at the table. I thought she was going to kill him."

"She should have," she muttered.

"But my point is," I said, my eyes still searching the room for the Logans. "That from what I've seen so far, she's actually very nice."

"Okay. Oh, hey, there they are," Alicia stated, pointing across the room.

Carolyn and Mike were attempting to strategically stack two dozen cups of coffee into something manageable by two people.

"Should we wait and see how long before they spill something?" I teased as we started across the room.

"With those two? It won't happen," she replied. "You know, it doesn't seem quite fair, does it?"

"What's that?"

"Hayes. Someone that gorgeous should be a bitch. You know, to balance it out. It's not fair to us average looking people when niceness is all we have going for us."

I barked out a laugh at her unexpected comment.

"Of course, look at you," she added. "And you're not a bitch either, so…"

"And you're not average looking," I replied. "Don't sell yourself short. And don't sell Sean short either."

"Jealousy is an ugly thing. But yeah, I know you're right."

"Anyone call for reinforcements?" I called out as we approached Mike and Carolyn.

"Any news?" Mike asked me, and I could see the worry etched across his face.

"She's out of surgery," I told him. "Bobby's in recovery with her, just waiting for her to wake up."

"And it went well?" Carolyn questioned.

"Liz spoke with the surgeon and the word is that everything went fine. I'm betting that by the time we get back upstairs, she'll be awake."

"Oh, thank God," Mike said quietly. "Did Sean and Kevin call a truce?"

I looked at Alicia quizzically.

"Sean punched Kevin," she explained. "And then apparently he insisted on Kevin hitting him back. They've kind of been bickering ever since."

"Well, that makes…sense. Maybe," I replied as I picked up two of the trays.

"They both blame themselves even though they're directing it at each other. Sean thinks if he could've caught the guy when he had him yesterday, then Alex wouldn't be here. And Kevin thinks that if he hadn't gotten into trouble then Alex wouldn't be here," Alicia explained. "What about you, Mike? You want some of this, too?"

"I can honestly say that I had nothing to do with it," he said. "Hey, how about if we go back past the recovery hall and see if she's awake yet?"

"I'm sure that Bobby will come out and tell us," I said.

"He wants to sneak in," Carolyn clarified.

"Sneak into recovery?" Alicia asked him. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey, no offense, but there are at least a billion Eameses in that waiting room. When she wakes up, I'm going to be so far down on the visiting list that it'll be Christmas before I get in there."

"No offense taken," Alicia said on a laugh. "And I don't blame you."

So the four of us went a different route back to the waiting room.

And along the way, we stopped off at a small sitting area and set down our coffees. Then Alicia and I distracted a nurse while Mike and Carolyn slipped down the row of curtained-off beds where post-op patients slept off their anesthetic.

"They're going to get caught," I remarked after the nurse with whom we'd been speaking decided that she had work to do.

"And then what? They'll just kick them out," Alicia said realistically. "No harm done."

Three minutes later, the Logans came back to the alcove where we'd stashed the drinks.

"Well?" I asked them.

"We got the boot," Carolyn said.

"But her eyes were open," Mike added with a grin. "She's awake."

TBC...


	53. Chapter 53

**Alex POV**

* * *

When I opened my eyes, it took me a moment to focus.

To remember.

Because at first, I wasn't sure of exactly where I was.

To be honest, I wasn't completely sure of _when _I was.

And even seeing Bobby sitting in the chair next to me didn't clear things up.

Because hadn't he always been there for me?

I continued to stare at him and then I noticed that he was looking back at me.

Intently, worriedly, hopefully…

And then I realized that someone else was in the room.

"Is she awake?" I heard a voice say.

"I think so," Bobby answered without moving his eyes from mine. "Alex?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out, so I swallowed hard and tried again.

"You're here," I said in a raspy voice.

"Where else would I be?"

"I'm not…I don't know," I admitted.

"Sir, you're not supposed to be in here," a sharp voice called out. "Ma'am, you either. Only family…"

"We are family," the male voice responded. And then I had it. Mike Logan.

"One family member," the person clarified. "You need to leave. You can visit Mrs. Goren when she gets situated in her room."

Mrs. Goren?

_That's me_, I reminded myself. _I'm Mrs. Goren_.

The cobwebs slowly began to clear as I pieced together my current situation.

I was _not_ in here because I'd just had Nathan.

I wasn't in here because I'd been kidnapped and beat up, either.

I was in here because I'd fallen through a floor.

I realized that people were still talking around me, and I heard the sound of footsteps fading away and then I focused in on Bobby's eyes again.

He leaned in closer to the bed and pressed a kiss against my forehead.

"How're you feeling, honey?"

"It's coming back to me now."

"Coming back?" he asked, keeping his face close to mine.

"For a minute there I wasn't sure."

"About what?"

"Which time this was. Although I guess my shoulder hurts at the moment. That's not exactly the area that was hurting after I gave birth."

He smiled at me and reached his hand up to stroke my cheek.

"Do you want me to call the nurse? I'm sure she can give you something more for the pain."

"No. Let me get my head on straight first. At least for a few minutes. I don't like the idea that I was flashing back to more than six years ago."

"It's not uncommon. You remember when we were in Chicago…I woke up and thought that our whole relationship had been a dream."

"I'm sorry I teased you about that. The nurse threw me for a loop when she called me Mrs. Goren," I admitted.

"I guess so, if you were in 2003. We were just talking about that night the other day, remember?"

"Yeah," I said after a moment. "You came to the hospital to see me. You were going to tell me that you loved me."

"And then I chickened out. Well guess what? This isn't 2003," he said firmly.

He kissed my forehead again, letting his lips linger against my skin and then he slowly kissed his way down to my lips. He pressed his mouth against mine, chaste but tender, as his hand continued to caress my cheek.

When he finally pulled back, his eyes were glassy.

"I am so in love with you, Alex…there just aren't words enough to express how I feel about you."

"Well, actions speak louder than words," I replied with a smirk.

My sense of humor was the only thing that kept the tears at bay after his emotional statement.

And of course, I _knew._

I knew how much he loved me.

Probably almost as much as I loved him.

Which meant that I'd scared him to death today.

He smiled at my challenge, and said, "I can tell you've got your mental wits about you again."

"I'm getting there," I answered, reaching my hand up to slide behind his head. I wanted to pull him back down to me so that I could kiss him again.

But my IV tubing wasn't cooperating and my shoulder began throbbing intensely, so I reluctantly dropped my hand to the bed and let out a frustrated sigh.

And that was when the nurse decided to come back.

"I need to check your vitals."

I ignored her and instead continued to look at my husband.

"If you really loved me, you'd get me out of here."

"Settle down, Mrs. Goren. You just came out of surgery. You're not going anywhere for a couple of days."

"A couple of days?"

"Post-op protocol is generally two to four days," she stated blandly as she took my blood pressure. "And you're lucky the surgeon was able to go in laproscopically or it would've been longer than that. We'll get you moved to a room shortly and then you can start having visitors."

"Mike and Carolyn are here," I said suddenly to Bobby. It was more a question than a statement because I only vaguely recalled hearing their voices earlier.

"Uh huh," he said with a nod. "And from what I understand, there are at least a dozen more."

"You're underestimating," the nurse said in annoyance. "There are no less than twenty currently running roughshod over the waiting room."

Twenty.

I was tired just thinking about it.

But on the other hand, it was kind of nice to realize that so many people cared enough to come.

"Okay, everything looks good," she stated. "I'm going to call down and see if your room is ready and then we'll get you out of here."

She left without another word and I let out a groan.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate hospitals?"

It was probably almost better to stay in a drugged up haze because now that my mind was working better, I really just wanted to go home.

"Once or twice," he replied with a smirk.

"Oh, what happened with Tomlin?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Bernard and Hayes went to check out the building, but I only saw them for a minute when they got here. After we get you settled, I'll get the rundown."

"We'll get the rundown."

"You need to get some rest."

"And I'll get it," I assured him. "After I'm brought up to speed on the case."

He didn't argue with me.

Instead, he sat on the edge of my bed and ran his hand over my hair. The sensation was relaxing and my eyelids started feeling heavy.

I let them fall closed and quit fighting against the sleep that once again wanted to take over.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

I watched Alex as her breathing evened out, but I continued to stroke her hair.

It relaxed _me_.

Touching her made me feel better, to know that she was alive and breathing right next to me.

And I know that, as far as possible dangers went, today wasn't too horribly bad. I mean, yeah, I hated any time that Alex got hurt.

I wished it had been me instead. And considering what had happened, it _should_ have been me.

How her small frame had triggered that whole collapse was a mystery.

But still…the situation could've been much worse.

She could've broken her neck.

That nail could've punctured something much more vital.

She could've been paralyzed.

Aside from that, if Tomlin had carried a gun, we could all three be dead. He could've shot us as we stood in that little room.

But as it was, in a couple of days I'd be able to take Alex home. And in a few weeks, she'd be mostly back to normal.

So like I said, it definitely wasn't an ideal situation and yet I was grateful.

"Her room is ready," the nurse said as she barreled back into the room. "If you want to go on downstairs, you can meet us there."

"No, I'll go with you."

"It's not protocol."

"I don't…"

"It's okay, Bobby," Alex said quietly, our voices having awakened her. "Go tell everyone that I'm okay. You can meet me in the room."

I didn't want to leave her. Times like this made me want to never let her out of my sight again.

But she held my gaze and nodded at me encouragingly.

"I'll be fine. Stretch your legs and fill everyone in."

"Alright," I agreed at last. I leaned down and kissed her, doing my best to ignore the nurse as she scurried around the area. Then I pulled back and moved my lips around to her ear and said softly, "Ti amerò finchè ho vita."

I got up from the bed and found her smiling at me.

"Me, too," she said in response to my statement. I was impressed that she understood the words.

**"**You've been studying," I replied, returning her smile.

"My mind isn't always in the gutter."

The nurse cleared her throat loudly, probably afraid of where our conversation was going, but I leaned back down again.

"I like your mind in the gutter," I whispered.

She smiled even broader and replied, "Good thing. It's never out for long."

I chuckled at her and quickly kissed her on the cheek before leaving the curtained area in search of the waiting room.

It wasn't hard to find.

I could hear the voices long before I got to the room.

And the mood seemed much lighter than I'd expected. I could actually hear laughter.

Although, surely Logan had told everyone that Alex was awake, and wasn't that usually the fear? That something would happen under anesthesia that caused the person to never wake up?

Or maybe that was just _my _fear.

I'd managed to distract myself enough while she was in surgery, but then during that hour in recovery, while I'd just stared at her and waited for her to wake up…that was when all of the worst-case scenarios had stormed my brain.

The chorus of various voices silenced when I stepped into the waiting room. I knew that the nurse had said there were twenty people in here, but I'd thought that she was exaggerating.

She wasn't.

And everyone looked at me expectantly.

It struck me just how much everyone cared about Alex. About both of us. It was humbling and heart-warming at the same time.

Two hours later, the last of the Eames clan left Alex's room. I figured that she had to be exhausted after the non-stop bevy of visitors, but she wasn't. In fact, she looked like she'd gotten her second wind.

"Can you believe my mom?" she asked me, shaking her head. "Fussing at my dad for _letting_ me become a cop. Seventeen years on the job and she still doesn't realize that I'm doing it because I love it."

"She knows," I said, scooting my chair closer to the bed. "She just worries."

"I know," she admitted on a sigh. "So, time for a case update, right? Because if I have to keep lying here, talking about my injuries, I'm going to have to pull out my gun."

"You're packing a weapon under that hospital gown?" I teased.

"Why don't you come find out?" she challenged.

"Knock, knock."

It was Mike, and as he said the words, he stuck his head through the doorway.

"How're you doing, kiddo?" he asked her. "Are you up for more company?"

"Who's still left out there?" I asked.

"Ross and Liz…Bernard…Hayes…Lupo…I think that's about it. Connie took Ben home because he's got an early flight in the morning. And I'm not sure if Sean is coming back or not. He mentioned something about just running Alicia home, but Bernard told him that he had things under control, so…"

"Bring them all in," Alex told him.

"Are you sure? I think Nurse Ratchet said two at a time."

"I'm not scared of her," she retorted. "Are you?"

"Are you sure you're doing okay?" I asked her when Mike stepped back into the hall. "You don't want to overdo it."

"I really want to go over this case. It doesn't go away just because I got hurt," she answered. "Another hour and then we'll clear everyone out and get some rest."

"Deal."

She smiled at me and then struggled to shift herself in the bed.

"Help me sit up a little."

I quickly grabbed onto her hips and adjusted her position.

"Better?"

"Yeah, thanks."

I still had my hands on her hips, appreciating the feel of her even through the sheet. I couldn't resist leaning in a little closer so that I could kiss her.

"I'm not sure that's part of the prescribed recovery," Liz quipped as she came into the room.

"Well, maybe it should be," I replied. I turned to see the others filtering in behind her.

"Maybe it should," she agreed with a nod. "Alex, no one three hours post-op should look so good. How do you feel?"

"Irritated that you left your vacation early," Alex told her. And then her voice softened and she added, "You didn't need to do that."

"No," she said. "But we wanted to. We'd have just spent our time worrying about you anyway. I'm so glad that you're okay."

Liz leaned down to hug Alex on her good side and then Ross did the same.

"I leave town for three days…" he teased.

"And the whole department goes to hell, huh Chief?" Bernard spoke up. "We've got partner shake-ups and harassment charges…ten-double-zeroes…"

"I guess it's a good thing I came back then."

"Harassment charges?" I questioned as I looked around the room.

"Don't ask," Lupo said. "And it's handled."

"So what's going on with Tomlin?" Alex asked Hayes. "You and Bernard went back to the building?"

"Uh huh," she said, and I noticed the spark in her eye.

They'd found something.

"We found his killing ground."

"In the same building?"

"Yeah. Actually, it was on the floor below, where you landed," Bernard said. "Only we took the stairs. You might want to think about doing that next time."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," she said with a smile. "But no sign of him?"

"No," Hayes answered. "But we did find something very interesting."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Apparently Johnson _did_ keep a log," Bernard told us.

"So your guy stole it when he cleaned out the prescription drugs?" Mike asked.

"That would be our guess," Hayes said. "And that's how he knew for sure who in the department was doing drugs. Or at least, some of them. I guess there could be more who are buying from someone else."

"We've got everyone from the list under watch," Bernard stating, and I noticed he turned to Ross when he spoke. Apparently he hadn't cleared that with him yet, although the circumstances of the day were definitely unusual.

"Good," Ross said with a nod. "We don't need any more bodies. I suppose you have someone sitting on that building, too?"

"Yes sir," Hayes said. "If he comes anywhere in the vicinity, we'll know about it."

"What about Kevin?" Carolyn spoke up. "He's still staying with your dad, right?"

"Kendra, too," Alex said. "Although I guess she's going back to her sister's in the morning to get the kids. Apparently my mom insisted."

We discussed case strategy for a few more minutes and then our visitors began to head out.

I was glad that they recognized Alex's need for rest. I mean, I had no problem kicking them out, but it was good to not have to.

Thirty minutes later, we were down to just Mike and Carolyn.

"So how's your case coming?" I asked them.

"It's…a doozy," Mike answered as he sat down heavily in a hard plastic chair. "One of our suspects was killed today. A sixteen-year-old kid."

"By the foster mother?"

"At least at her direction," Carolyn said. "But we don't have the proof yet."

"We'll get it," Mike said firmly. "That woman belongs in prison."

I could understand his frustration and I noticed that Carolyn was watching him carefully. I would've liked to be able to help them out, but it sounded like this Tomlin case was getting ready to come to a head.

I turned back to look at Alex and saw that her eyes had fallen closed. Mike noticed, too, because he got back up from the chair.

"You guys get some rest," he said quietly as he patted me on the back. "Call if you need anything."

"I will," I assured him. "And thanks for…well, just thanks."

I hugged Carolyn good-bye and then the two of them slipped out of the room. I turned off the overhead light and went back to my chair by the bed.

Climbing into the bed with Alex would've been preferable, but the bed looked way too small and I didn't want to risk hurting her.

I'd long since shed my suit jacket and tie and my sleeves were rolled up.

So for now, I stepped out of my shoes and sat down in the chair, reaching across to hold onto Alex's hand.

It didn't matter that the chair was hard or that my back would surely ache by morning.

All that mattered was that she was going to be okay.

TBC...


	54. Chapter 54

**Alex POV**

* * *

Sunday afternoon, I finally got to go home.

It had been a long, dysfunctional weekend filled with interrupted sleep and random visitors and I was looking forward to getting into our bed more than I could ever convey.

I was able to walk around, albeit gingerly, and I still had my arm in a sling to keep my shoulder immobilized but other than that, I was healing nicely.

The mild concussion was better and the bruised ribs had probably been an err-on-the-side-of-caution diagnosis.

They felt decent and that was not a word usually associated with bruised ribs.

"Let me get you settled in and then I'll order us some dinner," Bobby told me as he unlocked the door to our apartment.

"I don't think I'm going to argue," I said. "Are you surprised?"

"Worried," he admitted. "You did too much, didn't you? You should've let me carry you."

"Bobby," I said on a chuckle. "I'm fine. I'm just sleepy. You probably are, too, after spending two nights in a little chair."

"I will be happy to be back in our bed," he said with a tired smile.

He slipped an arm around my waist and together we walked down the hall.

"Maybe we can both eat in bed," I suggested.

So we did.

Bobby helped me strip out of my clothes and then he tucked me under the covers before heading off to the kitchen to order a pizza.

Twenty minutes later, he was back, with the pizza in hand, along with a couple of bottles of water. He set the food down on the table on his side of the bed and then quickly undressed and climbed in with me.

"I've missed having you next to me," I said as he turned towards me and gently settled his hand on my stomach.

"I never left your side."

"I know. But _in bed_ next to me. I never want to go back to sleeping alone again."

"Good, because it's never going to happen."

"How'd you manage to convince my mom that you could take care of me?" I asked him suddenly, remembering how at first my mom had said that she'd come home with us.

"Mary has her hands full," he replied. "I think she forgot how noisy four kids can be."

"Mmm," I hummed in agreement, enjoying the soft touch of his hand. "I don't know how Kendra does it."

"Yeah, well…can you keep a secret?"

"What is it?" I asked him.

"It's getting ready to be five," he whispered.

"She's pregnant?"

"They're not telling anyone yet."

"And yet they told you," I said with a slow smile. I got an immeasurable amount of joy at seeing Bobby accepted by my family.

"Well, Kevin was feeling guilty for what happened to you, and…I think he just wanted me to understand his desperation."

"He needs to get back on even footing," I said with a nod. "And a pregnancy can be trying enough without having your life in turmoil for other reasons."

"He's going to have a long road, even after we catch Tomlin. His job is still up in the air and the two of them are still trying to repair their marriage."

I felt bad for my brother, although I had to admit that seeing Cathy over the weekend had given me hope for my family as a whole.

She and Steve were really doing well. She had mentioned that she hoped to move back into the house by the end of the month.

And not that anyone could really compare sins, but if you could…well, I thought hers were worse than Kevin's.

His had landed him in more trouble, but he'd stayed faithful to Kendra. That had to count for something.

"Another baby," I mused.

I couldn't imagine.

But Kendra was a great mom, so if she was happy then I would be happy for her.

"Hey, so what did Sean have to say about the case?"

I knew that my brother had called Bobby while the doctor was going over my discharge instructions.

"Nothing new. And I mean nothing. He and Hayes staked the area all weekend, trading off with Lupo and Bernard."

Ross had decided to hold off giving Lupo and Bernard another case until Bobby got back to work.

I'd been pleading my case to be able to go back tomorrow and work from 1PP, but so far I'd met up against a brick wall on that one.

"_You do not have surgery on Friday and report to work on Monday. Absolutely not. End of discussion."_

And that had been _Liz._

She and I were going to have to have a chat about standing up for each other in front of the boss. I didn't care if the boss was her husband.

"So no sign of him?" I asked Bobby. "Where do you think he's hiding? We've checked out everyone on the list, right?"

"Yeah, but like Hayes said. That's just Johnson's list. He might have known about someone else."

"You think that maybe someone's dead that we haven't found?"

"What better way to find a place to hole up? Kill the vic and then use his place. If no one knows the vic is dead, then no one searches the apartment."

He had a point. I didn't like it, but it made sense.

"No more case talk until after dinner," Bobby said, scooting up in the bed so that he could reach the pizza box.

"Is that an order?" I teased. "You like bossing me around, don't you?"

"Absolutely. You want to fight about it?"

"I wouldn't want to embarrass you."

"Embarrass me?"

"Well, what would the guys think if they find out you got bested by a one-armed woman?"

"While naked, in bed? They'd wish they were me," he said with a grin. He pulled out a piece of pizza and held it out for me to take a bite.

"I can feed myself," I reminded him.

"Now what fun would that be?"

So I let him feed me dinner.

It was a strangely arousing experience and if I had a little more energy and was in a little less pain, I might have had dessert, too.

As it was, I had to take a rain check.

By the time I finished one piece, I was exhausted.

"Close your eyes," Bobby said softly as he tossed the last bit of crust back into the box.

Then he eased closer to me and I settled my head against his chest before drifting off to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of voices and I was alone in the bed.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep, but it must have been awhile because my body felt stiff.

I turned onto my back and did my best to bite back a groan.

I was _sore_.

I stayed as still as possible until the accompanying wave of nausea passed and then I turned my head to look at the clock.

It was seven-thirty.

Which meant…what? It was Monday morning already?

I thought about sitting up, but I wasn't sure if I could do it. I'd gone all night without painkillers and now I was paying for it.

But if I wanted to have an argument for going to work, then I had to suck it up. I pushed down on the bed with my right hand and tried to lever myself up.

"Alex, just wait. I'll help you."

Bobby came hurrying into the room and the fact that he was in a suit and tie did not escape me.

"You're leaving without me," I accused grumpily, even though I knew he had to. "And who are you talking to?"

"I didn't want to leave you alone," he said. "And we talked about this. There's no way that you're ready for work today. Wednesday, maybe."

"How do you know I'm not ready?"

"Because you can't even sit up," he reminded me lightly. "There's no rush."

"Says the man who busted the stitches in his blown artery," I said.

I was now sitting up on the edge of the bed and the dizziness had taken hold.

He was right. I knew it. He knew it.

But damn, I really hated it.

"Let me help you into some clothes," he said. "And then I've got to go."

"And you're leaving me with…Cathy? Alicia?"

"You'll see," he said with a smirk.

I sat still on the bed while he checked beneath my bandage with such care and tenderness, as though I might break if he handled me too roughly.

Then he carefully slid my arm into the sleeve of one of his button down shirts and then moved it into place, slipping my other arm in, and then buttoned each button.

"Shorts? Or sweatpants?" he asked, still in front of me on his knees.

I reached out and touched his cheek, feeling the smoothness of the freshly shaved skin.

"I'm sorry."

"You're hurting this morning," he replied knowingly. "I should've woke you up to give you a pill."

"No. It felt good to sleep. I'll be alright once I get moving around. But I'm sorry for being so cranky with you. I just hate being down for the count."

"I know. How about this? Let me see how the morning goes. If we're doing electronic legwork, I'll bring it home with me at lunch and you can help this afternoon."

The prospect was definitely appealing.

"Have I mentioned how much I love you?" I asked with a smile.

"Not today."

"A lot," I said as I slid my fingers into his hair. I pulled him towards me and he brought his lips to mine.

"A lot?"

"More than that."

"How much?"

"It's impossible to quantify," I said between kisses. "It's immeasurable and never-ending."

"I like the sound of that."

"I thought you might. Maybe…you can keep me in the loop this morning? You can text me updates?"

He pulled back and chuckled at my exuberance and then shook his head.

"One or two texts," he conceded. "But I want you to rest, too. You should take a pill and a nap."

"I just slept all night."

"I don't mean right now. You can get up and move around a bit. Slowly. And then you can relax on the couch for awhile."

"Okay," I agreed reluctantly.

"So…" he began, his hands still resting on my bare legs. He moved them up and down my thighs in a slow, steady pattern. "Shorts or sweatpants?"

I let out a heavy sigh and closed my eyes.

"Shorts," I said quietly.

I couldn't go to work.

I wasn't going to get lucky.

And I had a houseguest.

This day was going to suck.

Bobby got up from the floor and then came back with shorts and underwear.

"I like it a lot better when you're taking these off of me rather than putting them on," I complained.

"Me, too," he said with a boyish grin. "Maybe tonight we'll see how creative we can be."

Once dressed, I managed to get to my feet with just a little bit of help and then the two of us headed for the kitchen.

Leaning casually against my counter, drinking a cup of coffee, was Mary Shannon.

"When did you get into town?" I asked her with a slow smile.

"Last night," she answered. "Wow, you look like hell."

"Thanks," I replied wryly.

"I've got to run," Bobby said to me. "I told the guys I'd be there at eight, and I'm not going to make it."

He kissed me on the cheek and then put his finger under my chin, tilting my head up towards his.

"Behave yourself," he instructed. "I'll text you."

He kissed me one more time and then glanced up at Mary.

"Call me if you need anything," he told her.

Mary shrugged at him and then smiled broadly.

"This is a bad idea," he muttered as he headed for the door. I waited until the door closed behind him before I took another step closer to Mary.

"So…you brought your laptop?"

"Maybe."

"And you have access to all kinds of databases, right?"

"You think I'm going to let you work when he just gave us strict orders not to work?"

"I think you know what it's like to be stuck on injured reserve while the bad guys are still on the loose."

She looked at me thoughtfully for a minute, and then walked into the living room. She came back with a backpack.

"Sit down before you fall down," she told me, pulling out a kitchen chair. Then she got her laptop out from her bag.

"Now here's the deal," she continued. "You have to eat something. Then you can work for one hour and then you're going to take a pill and lay down on the couch. If you wake up before lunch, you can work a little more until Bobby gets back. Got it?"

"Sounds good to me," I said as I eased myself down into the chair.

"And you cannot tell him," she added as she turned on the computer.

"Unless I find something."

"Well, yeah."

"Deal."

"Alex…I'm glad you're okay," she said quietly. "There would be this… tremendous void without you."

She wasn't a sappy person and the idea that she would take the time to say such a thing was really touching.

"Thanks."

"Of course, you still look like hell."

I couldn't stop the laugh and I was rewarded with a sharp pain.

"Do _not_ make me laugh," I told her as I forced down my amusement.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "No more laughing. Got it. Okay, so where do you want to start? What are we looking for?"

Good question.

Now that I had everything at my disposal, I wasn't exactly sure where to look.

And then I had an idea.

TBC...


	55. Chapter 55

**Lupo POV**

* * *

I knew that I was going to catch hell when I arrived at 1PP and I wasn't wrong.

But considering the seriousness of our current case, I figured that I'd let them have their fun.

Bernard let out a long, low whistle.

"Lupes…ouch."

"You're telling me."

"Did you get jumped?" Sean asked me.

"Sort of."

"What happened?" Hayes questioned curiously. "Who jumped you?"

"Connie," I admitted.

"What? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. I was teaching her self-defense."

"Looks like maybe you're not the man for the job," Bernard joked.

Because yeah, I had a black eye.

And not a small one, either.

She'd caught me with the full force of her elbow square in the eye.

I'd dropped like a rock.

Of course, I wasn't going to admit _that_.

"I'd say you taught her pretty well," Hayes argued. "Except that you forgot to get out of the way."

"That would be more accurate," I agreed with a wry smile.

"Damn, Lupes, maybe next time _I _should teach the class."

"Oh yeah?" Hayes asked him. "What technique are you proficient in?"

I stood back as the two of them started a whole discussion about the various types of self-defense.

"So, seriously," Sean said as he came around my desk to stand beside me. "It was an accident?"

"Yeah," I said on a laugh. "It was definitely an accident. She feels pretty bad about it."

Actually, she'd felt horrible about it.

"Oh my God, Lupo, I'm so sorry!" she'd yelled out as my butt hit the floor.

And I didn't stop there. I went _all_ the way down.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down beside me.

"No," I muttered, holding my hand over my face. "But damn, that was a nice shot, Connie."

"Let me see it."

She'd tugged at my wrist until I let her pull my hand away. My eye had already swollen closed in just the short amount of time that had passed.

"Oh, this is bad. You need to see a doctor."

"I'm fine. I've had black eyes before."

"I gave you a black eye," she said in shock. "I can't…this is…"

"It was a training accident," I said firmly, her dismay nearly causing me to forget the throbbing pain in my face. "This was not about violence or anger. In fact, if anything, it was about love. And lust."

"Love and…what?"

"I love you. And I want you to be safe. So I want you to learn how to take care of yourself if the need should arise."

"And lust?" she questioned. "You want to explain that one?"

"I will, Counselor," I replied. "Just as soon as you bring me a bag of something frozen."

It was funny, actually. I was hurting like a son of a bitch and yet I wanted to make her feel better.

She'd hurried into the kitchen and come back with a bag of peas. I was still sprawled out on the floor in the living room, so she got down on her knees beside me. I held out my hand, but she kept it, instead setting it gently against my eye.

I lowered my hand, resting it on her bare thigh. It was bare because she was wearing short gym shorts for our workout session.

The thin cotton material framed her ass perfectly and that was what I'd noticed earlier, when I'd pretended to be an attacker and had approached her from behind.

I'd dropped my eyes to look at her butt and that was when she'd caught me with the elbow.

So as we sat together on the floor, I explained that to her.

"You know what?" I teased when I finished. "This is your fault."

"That's what I was…"

"Because if you weren't so damn gorgeous then I wouldn't have lost my focus," I finished. I moved the bag of peas away and pulled her down to me.

"We are not going to fool around when your eye is swollen shut," she argued half-heartedly as I ran my hands over what had gotten me into trouble in the first place.

"It'll make me feel better," I offered.

"I can't imagine that anything will make _that_ feel better. It looks awful."

"Which means you did a good job," I reminded her.

And really, that was the important thing.

Because the call to her office had traced back to a payphone two blocks away.

_Two blocks_.

And then she'd walked from her office to mine.

That idea scared the shit out of me. Which was why even though I'd worked all weekend, during my off hours, I'd shown Connie a few tricks.

We'd been doing one last run-through last night when it happened.

This morning, the swelling had gone down some, but the colors had come alive.

"Did you get it checked out?" Sean asked me. Hayes and Bernard were still deep in conversation.

"It's fine. So where are we? And where's Goren? He's coming in this morning, right?"

"He texted me a few minutes ago. He's on his way," he said.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

I was pretty sure that asking Mary to hang out with Alex hadn't been my smartest idea.

Or rather, it hadn't been Carolyn's smartest idea.

But I had to shoulder some of the responsibility because I'd jumped on it when she suggested it.

"I'd do it myself, but I can't leave Mike alone on this case," she'd told me when I spoke with her yesterday at the hospital.

"It's getting to him, isn't it?"

"More than he wants to admit."

"Okay," I'd said, making a mental note to find time for Mike. "So Mary's coming into town tonight?"

"She still hasn't found a place to live and her job starts in three weeks."

So I'd made a call to Mary.

"Alex gets hurt and no one calls me?" she'd complained after I explained the situation. "You know, just because I'm halfway across the country doesn't mean that I don't care."

"I know…I just…"

"I don't mean _you_," she amended. "Obviously, you've been busy. But someone. I suppose it's a good thing that I'm moving out there. Maybe if I'm in the same time zone, you guys won't forget about me."

"Um…so you don't mind spending tomorrow with Alex?"

She'd sighed heavily and then was quiet for a minute.

"Of course I don't mind. I'm actually really glad that you asked. And just ignore me, okay? John's been in London for two weeks now and it's really bothering me, and then it's bothering me that it's bothering me, so it's possible that I'm a little more grouchy than normal."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," I'd replied smartly.

"Oh my God, you know you sound just like Alex, right?" she'd retorted.

"What time is your flight? I can pick you up," I offered, chuckling at her harmless gripes.

"No need. Rocco's going to meet the plane at JFK and take me to the hotel. Did John tell you that he bought the Millenium?"

"He bought the hotel?"

"Yeah, he said that since he spends so much time in New York that it made sense. Crazy, isn't it?"

Crazy wasn't the word I would've chosen. Incomprehensible maybe. It was unfathomable to think that he had that much money where a purchase like a mid-town Manhattan hotel was everyday fodder.

"Anyway, Rocco's going to take me to the hotel, but I'll be at your place bright and early tomorrow morning. Seven o'clock?"

"That sounds great. Thanks, Mary. I'll owe you one."

"Just one?" she'd teased. And then she added, "Goren, just seeing your handsome mug will make us even."

She'd been right on time this morning.

I'd quietly slipped out of bed at six-thirty to shower and shave before work. I'd just finished tying my tie when she knocked on the door.

"See? There you are. Handsome as ever," she said as she gave me a hug. "And you smell good, too. How does Alex ever get any work done?"

"It's a challenge."

"I'll bet. How is our patient this morning?"

"Still asleep. You want some coffee?"

We walked into the kitchen and I poured cups for both of us.

"So how are things with you and John? I haven't talked to him lately."

"Good. Actually, really good. It's freaking me out a little."

"Is that why you're looking for a place to live when John just bought a perfectly suitable hotel?"

"I can't live in one of his hotels."

"I'm sure it has a pretty nice penthouse."

"It does," she agreed wistfully. "I'm staying in it now. But I can't live in it. That would be like…I don't know. Charity. Using a room from time to time when I'm in town is one thing, but if I was going to live there, I'd have to insist on paying for it, and I can't afford it, so…"

"I can understand that," I said with a nod. And then I'd heard Alex let out a groan. "I'll be right back. She went all night without a pill, so she's going to be hurting."

And she was. She was cranky and argumentative, but I managed to get a smile out of her.

"I like it a lot better when you're taking these off of me rather than putting them on," she'd said as I helped her into her underwear and shorts.

"Me, too. Maybe tonight we'll see how creative we can be."

No way was I going to try to make love to her tonight, but I was open to other options. Because I _was_ very creative.

And the smile I got from her in response to my suggestion was much preferable than the scowl from before.

After that, we went into the kitchen. Alex was happy to see Mary.

"When did you get into town?"

"Last night," Mary told her. "Wow, you look like hell."

I glanced at Alex, giving her a quick once over, but I didn't see it.

To me, she looked beautiful.

"I've got to run," I said. "I told the guys I'd be there at eight, and I'm not going to make it."

I kissed her and instructed her to behave, but I had a pretty good feeling that my orders would be forgotten as soon as I walked out the door because Alex had a mischievous look in her eye.

I kissed her again and looked at Mary.

She smiled at me and that pretty much said it all.

"This is a bad idea," I said, shaking my head as I headed for the door.

I'd bet money that they'd only waited for the door to close before striking up an agreement with how much work Alex could do.

But still…she'd be at home.

And Mary wouldn't let her get too carried away. She was committed to the job, like we were, but she was also a very caring person. As much as she liked to hide that side of her, I knew it was there. If Alex started getting tired, Mary would make sure she rested.

So I drove myself to work and made it there by eight-thirty. I half-expected to get a text before I even got up to the eleventh floor. I figured that Alex would've made some tremendous break in the case, using Mary's laptop that I knew was in her backpack.

But all was quiet.

In the squad room, I found Lupo and Bernard at their desks. Hayes and Sean had pulled up chairs and were working at the ends of the desks.

"How's Alex?" Sean asked me.

"She's getting there. Where are we?"

"We've got reports of four stolen vehicles overnight," Hayes said. "Me and Eames are going to run those down and see if one might be our guy."

"Good. No activity at the building?"

"Nothing," Bernard said. "He knows we're there."

"Uh huh," I agreed. I turned to look at Lupo, who was wearing sunglasses. "Should I ask?"

"No," he replied dismissively. "But I think I might have something here. A pry axe was purchased by Malcolm Rayburn in January of this year."

"That's our guy's real name?"

"Yeah," Hayes said. "I found it in the fire school records on Friday. You know, when…"

"Okay, so I'm guessing that his name didn't give us anything? Credit cards? Cell phone?"

"Nothing current. But when he bought the axe in January he had it shipped to an address in Bensonhurst," Lupo stated as he got up from his chair. "Come on, B. We'll ride out there."

I was getting ready to say that I'd go with them, but then my phone buzzed, so I pulled it out.

Surprise, surprise. A text from Alex.

_**Talk to a guy named Skinny. He deals in prescription drugs and might know Tomlin. Corner of 11**__**th**__** and West 49th**_.

I shook my head and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Looks like Alex got us a lead, too. So we'll split up and report back to each other in two hours, okay?"

"What's Alex working on?" Sean asked. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to talk to a dealer in Clinton."

"Alone?" Hayes asked me.

"Not alone."

I turned around and found that Ross had just entered the squad room.

"There's been enough trouble on this case," he said. "You're not working without a partner."

"But Chief, we've got leads going in three different directions," I argued.

"I didn't say you're _not working_," he stated. "I said not without a partner. So until Alex gets back, I'm your partner."

"You?"

And it wasn't that I minded. I was just surprised that he was going to be away from his office again after missing three days last week.

"Unless you'd rather I call Bishop," he replied with a grin.

I shrugged at the others and tossed Ross the keys.

"Let's go."

TBC...


	56. Chapter 56

**Logan POV**

* * *

"So you found one of the stolen items at a pawn shop, but you still can't tie it to your suspects?"

Hayes' incredulity at our misfortune might have annoyed me in the old days, but I guess that I'd matured enough to take it for what it was.

Rookie enthusiasm offered by someone who still held the belief that the bad guys were always caught.

But I knew better.

Sometimes they weren't.

And I was starting to think that this was one of those times.

"Broken security camera," Carolyn told her. "It's actually pretty common with pawn shops. They hate to rat out their customers, but they know they'll get busted if they don't, so…they either erase the tape or it truly never worked to begin with."

"Tough break," Bernard commiserated. "Although I'm not sure we're doing much better."

It was Monday evening and we were back in McNally's, only this time the group was a little smaller.

Bobby had gone home to Alex.

Ross and Rodgers were still working.

Ben had gone back to Miami.

And at the moment, Lupo was meeting up with Connie. He didn't want her walking over here alone. Something about a threat, but everyone seemed calm about it, so I didn't ask for details.

I had enough on my mind.

The overt threat that Chesley had made to Carolyn on Friday still had me spooked.

Would she be so bold as to try something with us?

I wasn't sure, which meant that I'd barely gotten a wink of sleep all weekend.

My instinct Friday night, after the ordeal with Alex, had been to get drunk.

Childish maybe and probably irresponsible, but I'd been extremely upset when I'd heard that she was hurt.

Someone like her didn't deserve that.

Me, maybe.

Not her.

So by the time Carolyn and I had gotten home from the hospital, I was flooded with relief at the fact that Alex was going to be okay. And considering how stressed I'd been, the sudden rush of respite had me reaching for the liquor cabinet.

But I stopped myself.

Because I couldn't risk being at diminished capacity.

What if tonight was the night that Chesley sent her boys?

And then _that _thought pissed me off even more.

I was letting Chesley Watkins affect my life, alter my decisions.

But still, I couldn't risk it. So I'd activated our security alarm and then gone upstairs to bed, where I'd stared at the ceiling for most of the night.

Saturday, we'd visited Alex again. And then we'd prowled the pawn shops in Manhattan, hoping to get a hit on some of the stolen merchandise. We came up empty and then returned to the hospital before going back home for another sleepless night.

"She won't come here," Carolyn said sometime around three a.m. Sunday morning.

I hadn't realized that she was awake, too, although I should have.

"She commented on your necklace."

The one that I'd given her.

"She wanted to get inside of your head. And I'd say she's there."

"So it's a game and right now I'm losing, is that what you're saying?"

"I'd say we both are. I mean, it's the middle of the night and we're both awake."

She was right, as usual. I hated Watkins being in my head.

I had to do something about that.

"We could make good use of our time," I said suggestively, pulling her closer against me.

"We can't hide behind sex, Mike," she replied reasonably.

"Who said anything about sex?"

"You."

"I was suggesting making love," I whispered as I moved my lips against her neck.

She was still for a minute and then she let out a sigh.

"You're very good at distracting me," she admitted quietly.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"I just want to make sure that we don't ignore the issue."

"Okay, then how about this? I'll make love to you until the sun comes up and then we'll talk about how to handle the case."

So that was how we'd passed the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning.

It had been more about intimacy and closeness than the act itself and by the time we were ready for breakfast, I was feeling a bit more objective.

"Okay, you're right," I said as I scrambled eggs in a skillet. "She's not going to try to come here. She was just trying to intimidate us."

"And we have the alarm system," she reminded me. "If they try anything, we'll be ready."

"Exactly."

"But not if we're exhausted from lack of sleep," she added as she wrapped her arms around my waist from behind. "So tonight…I don't care if you have to take a pill, but you're going to sleep."

"Okay," I agreed.

But then I didn't.

We'd spent some time with Alex and Bobby again until she was discharged and then we'd gone home.

We found a note taped to our front door.

_**Two carat emerald-cut sapphire. Two grand. Killers must make good money these days.**_

As I read the words, I felt the overpowering urge to be sick.

She'd come to our home…not just looked up our address somehow, but literally walked up the sidewalk and touched the front door.

And she was apparently obsessed with Carolyn's necklace, as well as the fact that I had never been punished for killing _her boy_.

Hell, maybe I'd never spent time behind bars, but I'd been punishing myself for years, for that crime and many others.

And yeah, I knew that it hadn't been a crime.

I _knew _that Tarkman had been dazed from the beating and unable to think straight…he hadn't identified himself while he'd been pointing a gun at us.

_At Carolyn_.

I'd had no choice but to shoot.

By no means was he the only man I'd ever killed, but he was one for which I felt remorse.

But it wasn't enough.

Was Watkins targeting us because I was investigating her latest crime spree, or was it because she'd wanted revenge all along and she now had a crew groomed to do the legwork?

"We need to get CSU out here," Carolyn said.

"I'll print the door," I said with a shake of my head. I unlocked the door and went in, checking the keypad on the alarm. "No one came inside."

I punched in the code and then went to get my kit.

I went through the house, slamming doors and tossing things around…generally making as much noise as possible to try to alleviate my temper.

Carolyn was shaken, too, I could tell.

Because she wasn't trying to calm me down.

It was one thing to fight the criminals _out there_.

It was another when they came to us.

Although at least I could thank Rhonda Hagen for one thing. Because of her, we'd gotten a state of the art security system.

"She's taken it too far," I muttered as I slapped the powder onto our front door. It would be a miracle if I'd actually be able to pull any prints off, considering the recklessness with which I was handling the job. "Too goddamn far. I'm going over there."

"To her house? No, you can't."

"Why not? She came to mine, I'll go to hers."

"She's baiting you."

"And she's doing a bang up job of it."

"We just need to focus on the case and put her behind bars."

"I don't want to put her behind bars," I mumbled petulantly. "Prison is too good for her. She's ruining lives, Carolyn. Lots and lots of lives, and all under the guise of being a good Samaritan."

"I know," she said softly as she came up behind me. She settled her hand on my shoulder as I finished pulling prints from the door. Most of them were probably ours, but it was possible that one would pop.

The sound of a car racing down the street caused me to stand up quickly.

"Get in the house," I said firmly, shoving her toward the doorway.

"Mike…"

"We're sitting ducks out here," I said, following her into the house and slamming the door closed.

"You think she's going to do a drive-by?"

"I don't know what the hell she's going to do," I snapped back, my frustration getting the best of me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "That necklace…"

"I love my necklace," she said. "Don't let her obsession with it turn it into something ugly, because you know that if it wasn't the necklace, it would be something else."

"I know," I agreed. I put down my fingerprinting supplies and then pulled her into a hug. "I know. God, she gets to me. And every time I think I've got her beat, she pulls something else out of her hat."

"You're doing great," she soothed. "And we'll beat her. I have no doubt about that."

I hummed my dubious agreement and buried my face in her hair.

I was _so_ tired.

"So…did this really cost that much money?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, well, Chesley knows her stuff."

"You don't have that kind of money. Mike…"

It was true. I'd scraped together for several months in order to buy that for her.

We had a joint account that we used for our combined expenses, but we each had personal savings accounts, too. She still had a lot of money from when her parents had died and I didn't want that to get mixed into the pot. That was hers.

"I know how to pinch pennies when I need to," I deflected. "You're worth it. I'd buy you one for every day of the week if I could."

"But you don't need to…"

"I know," I interrupted. "I _wanted_ to. Once I saw it in the store, I knew that I had to see it on you."

We'd gone to bed that night, both of us insistent that we had nothing to worry about.

And yet I didn't sleep.

I'd even caved and had three shots of Jack in an effort to take the edge off, but it didn't help.

On Monday, we'd dropped off the prints at the lab and then headed for Brooklyn to check out another cluster of pawn shops.

And we got a hit.

"When did this come in?" I asked the guy, holding up an Egyptian statue that had once belonged to the Flynts.

"Uh…Thursday. I think."

"Thursday," Carolyn said, joining me at the counter. "And you didn't recognize it from the flier?"

"Oh, is that thing on a police flier?"

"Yeah," I answered smartly. "And I'm betting so are a couple dozen more items in this place. Hey, Barek…let's talk a walk-through and see what we can find."

"That's a great idea," she agreed with a smile.

I think she kind of liked it when I called her Barek from time to time. And honestly, it flowed.

I loved, and I mean _loved_ that she was Carolyn Logan.

But sometimes when we were teasing, her maiden name just came out.

It was like the old days.

"Oh, officers, um…that's not necessary," the guy said quickly. "You know, I think I might remember the guy who brought that statue in here."

"You might, huh? You think maybe it's on the security camera?" Carolyn asked him.

"I can check…if you want."

"Yeah. We want," I said pointedly.

Of course, when he came back out, he informed us that somehow the tape player had gotten jammed, subsequently sending the recording device into stand-by mode.

Which meant that nothing from the past week had been recorded.

We'd taken him in to 1PP and made him sit with a sketch artist and then Carolyn and I sat down at our desks so that I could call the lab.

"Don't you guys ever wash your door?" the tech asked me.

"Wash the outside of my front door? It's not exactly a high priority."

"You should think about it," he chastised. "Because you have got _tons_ of people touching it. Just imagine the germs."

"I try not to. Did you find anything interesting?"

"Well, there's you and the other Detective Logan. Both Detective Gorens. Chief Ross. Detective Lupo. Detective Bernard. Do you have any friends who don't work for the department?"

"You're killing me, man. Give me something good."

"Well, there's one set that turned up as a whitewash."

Inspector Shannon. She'd been at our house last month.

_Maybe I did need to wash my door._

"Got it. What else?"

"You know someone whose information has been redacted? Like, a real spook?"

"Yeah, I know people. What else?"

"That's about it. Two unidentified partials."

Which meant that it hadn't been Chesley herself. She'd be in the system.

"Did you run them against the prints gathered from the Flynt and Matherly crime scenes?"

"No. Did you want me to do that?"

"Yeah," I replied in annoyance. "Call me back."

By late afternoon we had a printout of the person who'd pawned the statue.

"Jesse?" Carolyn suggested.

"It could be," I agreed. Then I turned to the guy. "Hey, didn't you get ID from this kid? Because you know he's a kid, right?"

"He had ID."

"You know he had ID, but you don't remember the name on it, and you didn't write it down."

"Yeah, well, he said that he probably wouldn't be coming back, so…"

"How much did you pay him?"

"Ten large."

"Huh. It would've been a sweet deal if we didn't have to confiscate it," Carolyn told him. "It's worth about ten times that."

"A hundred grand? Oh, man."

"Too bad you didn't sell it quicker," I told him. "You can go now. And if this kid comes back into your store, I expect an immediate phone call. You got me?"

So he'd left and we sat down to put our heads together.

"She was willing to take ten percent of market value," Carolyn mused. "Maybe she's lost some of her resale contacts."

"Maybe. Or maybe that's all they were ever getting. If you steal enough stuff, even ten percent is a lot of money."

"Jesse took the statue to the pawn shop," she mumbled. "Or maybe he just _took_ the statue. It's the only thing that's turned up so far. Maybe he wanted something for himself."

"You think Chesley doesn't know about it?"

"I don't know. But we can pick him up now. I mean, we've got the photo and the pawn shop owner's statement."

"This photo looks like hundreds of kids in Brooklyn. The judge will never sign off on a warrant. Connie couldn't even get Chesley's financials and that should've been a whole lot easier than this. We still need more."

My phone rang and I quickly picked it up.

"Hey Logan, you were right. Both of those partials match up to prints from both crime scenes. What the hell is that, man?"

"Thanks," I said, ignoring his question. The nausea rolled through me at the confirmation.

She'd sent her boys, _the killers_, to our house. But knowing it and proving it were two different things.

We called it quits for the day and that was when we ran into the others at McNally's.

"You guys are hitting dead ends?" Carolyn asked in response to Bernard's remark.

"All of us," Hayes said with heavy frustration. She took a long drink of her beer, killing off the remaining liquid. "We followed up on four reports of stolen cars. None of them was our guy. One was actually just a husband who was pissed off at his wife. Can you believe that?"

"Yes," was the collective response from the veterans at the table.

Sean barked out a laugh and said, "Yeah, I guess we're showing off our green, Hayes."

"I guess so," she admitted on a laugh. "So anyway, Bernard and Lupo went to an address where a pry axe had been delivered, supposedly to our guy."

"It wasn't your guy?"

"The house belongs to a lawyer who works eighteen-hour days," Bernard explained.

"So your guy is smart," Carolyn said. "He picked a house where he knew the box would be delivered while no one was home. Then all he had to do was wait for it to show up."

"Uh huh," Bernard said.

The waitress brought another round for everyone and I wasn't sure who had ordered it, but I was grateful.

I _had_ to sleep tonight, even if it was drunk sleep.

It would have to be better than nothing.

"What'd we miss?"

Lupo and Connie had arrived and he was sporting one hell of a shiner. I had no doubt that people had asked him about it all day, so I stared at it for a moment and then dismissed it.

"We're commiserating about our cases," Carolyn said. "Your guy had his weapon shipped to someone else's house, huh?"

"Yeah, he's smart," Lupo agreed.

"Hey, I hate to run when you guys just got here, but I need to get home. I want to help put the kids to bed," Sean said as he got up from the table.

"I really want to tease you about that, Eames, but you know what? I just think it's sweet," Hayes said. "Tell Alicia I said hi."

"Will do. Catch you guys in the morning."

Sean left and then Bernard picked up the thread of the conversation.

"So meanwhile," he said dramatically. "Alex was at home firing up the laptop and managed to find a drug dealer who had once been arrested with Johnson."

"That's a good angle," I commented. "Go for your guy's new supplier."

"That's what we thought," Lupo said. "So Bobby and Ross went to check him out."

"And? Dead end?"

"It turned into a mess of a day for them, but it didn't yield us any closer to catching Tomlin."

"What happened?"

"Honestly, I don't have the details," he admitted. "But when he and Ross got back to 1PP, they had the dealer in tow and they all looked like they'd been through the wringer. Bobby threw him into lock-up and went home. Ross said he had work to get done in his office."

I'd been debating going by Bobby and Alex's place after we left here, but maybe not. It sounded like he'd had a rough day and if Alex had been working, even from home, then she'd probably be exhausted. Like me.

I caught Carolyn's gaze and gave her the nod. We both finished our drinks and then got up from the table.

"We're going to have to go," I said. "Maybe tomorrow night we'll meet back here and all of our suspects will be in jail."

"Now there's a thought," Bernard agreed.

"Yeah, hey, I'm sorry about the warrant thing," Connie spoke up.

"No, you're right," Carolyn said. "We don't want to screw this up. When we bring her in, it's going to be for good."

We left McNally's, going home by subway since we'd left our car at the station. I'd known we were headed for the bar and didn't want to have to worry about it.

We came up top and then walked the last five blocks back to our place.

Our house was dark.

I should've remembered to turn on the outside lights.

"We should get some of those timed lights," I commented as we went up the steps.

And then a sound on the porch had me pulling my gun and whirling around, staring into the darkness.

"You shouldn't come home to a dark house. It's not safe."

TBC...


	57. Chapter 57

**Bobby POV**

* * *

I took the stairs when I got home, just to give me the extra time to cool down.

What a frustrating day.

Nothing had gone like I'd hoped.

I'd wanted Alex's lead to pan out.

I'd wanted to come home at lunch.

I'd wanted to catch Tomlin, or at least be a lot closer to finding his location.

And while I hadn't minded working with Ross, I'd missed Alex.

I didn't always have to explain things to her.

She just _knew_.

With Ross, I had to put things into words.

Of course, at least he wasn't as bad as Bishop.

With her, even words hadn't been enough.

I'd needed to draw pictures and act out skits, too.

The thought of Bishop caused me to stomp on the stairs a little harder.

I would've been fine with the idea of never seeing that woman again. And yet now I'd seen her twice in less than a week.

Ross had driven us to Clinton, and I'd called Alex along the way.

"How did you find this dealer?" I asked her when she answered.

"I accessed the database and…"

"No," I interrupted. "I mean, how did you find him when you're supposed to be lying down on the couch?"

"I'm sitting down," she'd promised quickly. "And I ate breakfast."

"Was that part of Mary's deal?" I asked knowingly. She sighed heavily into the phone.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing," she said defensively.

"I know. I'm just giving you a hard time. I knew Mary had her laptop. How long did she give you?"

"An hour. Then I have to rest."

"Good. Okay, so who is this guy?"

"Skinny Morales. He was popped with Johnson in 2004 for possession with intent to distribute."

"So you think that he might know Tomlin?"

"It's a guess," she admitted.

"It's a good one. Same area, same circle."

"Right. And when Skinny was arrested, he had blank scrip pads on him, so he was dealing the right kind of drugs to pique Tomlin's interest."

"Nice work, Detective," I said, hoping she'd interpret my words as I meant them.

_I love you. You're a genius. I can't wait to get home._

"You're not alone," she stated knowingly. She might not have read everything into my statement, but she'd obviously picked up on the fact that I was keeping it professional.

"Ross is my partner until you get back."

"Well then, I'd better hurry up and get back."

We parked the car on 10th and then walked the area, hoping to run across someone who knew Skinny.

Ross stuck out like a sore thumb, but I did my best to blend. Or at the very least, seem non-threatening.

We roamed the area for more than an hour before I spotted a guy sitting against the wall of an old building.

"You know a guy named Skinny?" I asked him.

He was smoking a cigarette, but it was down to the filter and was nearly burning his fingers.

I pulled a pack from my jacket pocket and shook out two.

Alex wasn't going to be crazy about the fact that I'd bought a pack, but so far I'd only smoked a few, while she'd been in the hospital.

And now they'd give me some leverage to get information.

I lit both cigarettes and handed one to my new friend. He didn't look like an addict, but rather just someone down on his luck.

"Yeah, I know Skinny," he said after he took a long drag. "He's usually hanging out on the corner."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"'Bout an hour or so ago," he said.

Which meant we must have just missed him. It figured.

"He'll be back," the man continued. "He probably went to make a pick-up."

"So he's still dealing?"

"Hey, I'm not saying. I gotta live out here, man."

"I hear you. But I'm not trying to bust him. I just need some information."

"Information? From Skinny?"

"That's right."

He laughed out loud and shook his head at me.

"Good luck with that, man. Skinny ain't no scholar."

I smiled at the man and squatted down in front of him as I pulled out the pack of smokes again. I shook out three more and tucked them into his pocket.

"How long does it usually take him when he goes on a pick-up?"

"Not long. Hour. Maybe two. He don't wanna stay away too long or the business will go somewhere else, you know what I'm saying?"

I thanked him and went to find Ross. He was in the next alley over, chatting up a couple of hookers.

"Did you find out anything?" I asked him with a smirk as he walked over toward me.

"Yeah," he replied. "Hookers are a lot more expensive than they used to be."

I barked out a laugh, but I was afraid to voice the question that wanted to escape. _And how do you know how much they used to cost?_

Instead, I told him what I'd learned and then the two of us walked around the corner so that we could keep an eye out for Skinny without being overly obvious.

There was a lot of activity in the neighborhood, and most of it appeared to be illegal. No one seemed to mind the presence of cops as long as we didn't interfere.

My guy's guess of an hour or two turned out to be more like three. Ross was just talking about lunch when a car pulled up to the corner. It slowed down and the door opened and a man got out.

"You think that's Skinny?"

I glanced at my friend who still sitting in the same spot. He'd long since smoked the three cigarettes that I'd given him and I made a mental note to just give him the rest of my pack. I didn't need them anyway.

My guy gave me a nod and then tipped his head towards the man who'd just gotten out of the car.

"I guess so," I replied.

The car pulled away from the corner and I committed the license plate number to memory.

Just because _I _wasn't going to bust Skinny for dealing didn't mean I wouldn't turn over the information to Narcotics.

We walked across the street and I pulled my badge from my pocket, which was where I'd stashed it when we'd arrived in this neighborhood.

"Skinny Morales?" I asked.

"Who's asking?"

I held up my hand, quickly flashing him the badge.

"NYPD," I said quietly. "Let's go somewhere and talk."

"I ain't got shit to say to no pig."

"Pig?" Ross asked. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Yeah, well, I heard that he wasn't all that smart," I said to Ross in a loud whisper.

"Who said that? I'll kill a motherfucker who say that shit about me!"

"Oh, you're going to kill someone?" I asked. "Yeah, then we need to talk."

"You gonna be in some serious shit, man," he warned.

"Me? I'd say it's you who's into trouble," I argued. "I'm not the one with a pocketful of pills."

"Nah, man. I got a _meeting_."

With that, he started walking backwards toward the door at the end of the alley. I didn't mind following him. Not only was I curious about this meeting, but I also wanted to get Skinny out of sight of the others. That way, we could talk to him, maybe shove him around a little, and then let him go with his rep intact.

"A meeting with who?" Ross asked him.

Despite my urge to do so, I didn't correct his grammar. I had a feeling that he wouldn't care for that.

"I can't miss my meeting," he insisted. "You gonna mess up my pass."

"Your pass?" Ross questioned as we got to a door at the end of the alley.

"You deaf or something, old man?"

"Hey, show some respect," I said as I pushed Skinny through the door. I followed him, with my hand on the butt of my weapon as a precaution, but then I pulled up short when I saw that someone was waiting on the other side.

"Are you kidding me? Another one? Are you purposely trying to ruin my career?"

It was Bishop.

"This guy's a CI?" I asked her.

"Yeah, man. Like I said. A pass," Skinny said, grinning broadly at us.

"What are you doing here, Goren? You may as well just announce it to everyone and blow my case," she griped, grabbing on to my sleeve and tugging me forward so that I would come completely through the doorway.

Of course, she certainly hadn't realized before that it was Ross who was with me. He followed me through the doorway and let the ill-hung piece of wood slam closed behind him.

"Detective, you need to adjust your tone," he chastised.

"Chief Ross," she said quickly. "I didn't realize…I didn't see…"

"It shouldn't matter whether you saw me or not. Detectives in my department are all on the same team."

"Sir, Detective Goren is bent on badgering my informants."

"Your informant may have knowledge pertaining to a serial killer."

"Whoa, man. A serial killer? I don't think so."

"I was just going to ask him a few questions. And I was coming back here with him so that no one would see that he was cooperating," I explained to her, ignoring Skinny for the time being.

"It's too risky," she said, glancing around the empty alley. "If you would've just asked me about him, I could've made the necessary arrangements for you to interview him in private."

Then she put her hand on Skinny's arm, tugging him towards her.

"Okay, maybe I should've," I conceded. "But I didn't know that he was an informant."

"That's because you fly off the handle on your hunches rather than taking the time to be thorough," she shot back.

"Detective," Ross said loudly, stepping up next to me and glaring at Bishop. "You're out of line."

"I'm out of line?" she said shrilly. "Really, Sir? Or have I just stepped into the boys' club?"

I couldn't believe that she'd said the words, and from the look on her face, she was a little surprised by it, too.

I glanced at Ross, whose face had darkened, but before he could open his mouth, the unthinkable happened.

Skinny reached out and gave Ross a hard shove, sending him reeling backwards into the fence behind us and then he took off running.

I muttered a string of curse words that would make Alex proud and then took off after him.

Because the mere fact that he was running told me that he probably knew something.

Now I _really_ wished I had Alex with me because then we'd be running side by side.

As it was, I could hear Ross and Bishop behind me, but Bishop didn't strike me as the athletic type and Ross…well, Ross was six months post-gunshot to the chest. It didn't seem to hamper him at all in his day to day life, but running at breakneck speed was probably not the best idea.

I called out to Skinny a couple of times, trying to get him to stop, but he kept going through every back alley and hidden passageway he could find.

I wasn't gaining on him, but he wasn't pulling away either. I could still see him about twenty yards ahead of me.

He made his way into Dewitt Clinton Park, and so I pushed myself harder because I didn't want to lose him in the woods.

It had rained last night and I had a feeling that I was currently ruining my favorite pair of Allen Edmonds shoes, not to mention the fact that my slacks were now wet up to my knees from going through puddles.

Skinny stumbled going into the park and I cut the distance between us in half.

I could see a grove of trees coming up on our left and I couldn't let him get there, so I made a last ditch effort to increase my speed and then I threw myself at him.

We both went down to the ground, but he continued to fight me, rolling around and trying to free himself from my grip.

"Settle down," I yelled at him. "I wasn't trying to arrest you. I just want to talk!"

"Fuck you, man. Bishop told me I had a pass, but you guys were walking all over her."

I finally used my body weight to pin him down and he immediately stilled.

"I'm going to let you up," I told him. "Don't be stupid."

"Okay, okay."

"Goren!" Ross called out. I got to my feet and pulled Skinny up with me, holding his arms behind his back.

I turned around and saw Ross entering the park, with Bishop right behind him.

_Behind_ him.

She was in her thirties and she'd been outrun by a man who was a good twenty years older.

Not to mention the fact that it was her fault he'd gotten away to begin with.

"I'm good," I replied. "And Skinny's going to be good, too, right?"

"Yeah, man. I'm good."

Ross looked like he'd fallen at one point during our chase because the knees of his slacks were dirty.

Maybe that explained why Bishop had been so slow. She must have stopped to help him up.

"Actually, you're not so good," I said as I got out my handcuffs and slapped them on his wrists.

"What? You said you weren't going to arrest me!"

"I said I _wasn't_. But now I am. You do realize that you assaulted the Chief of Detectives, right? What kind of cop would I be if I gave you a pass on that?" I asked him, staring pointedly at Bishop.

"Goren," she began, but Ross interrupted her.

"You're done here," he told her. "When I get back to 1PP, I'll expect to find you waiting outside my office."

"But Sir…"

"Why are you even over here, anyway?"' he asked her. "You're Bronx Narcotics. In case you hadn't noticed, this is Manhattan."

"I explained it to Goren. I'm working a case…"

"You _were _working a case," he said, cutting off her explanation. "And now you're not. 1PP. Now."

For a second, I thought she was going to continue her argument, but in the end, she turned around and walked away.

I gave Skinny a shove and started walking him back towards our car, which was now about fifteen blocks away.

As we walked, I read him his rights, and then I asked him about Tomlin.

"I don't know any Tomlin."

"What about Johnson?"

"Who?"

I'd had enough of this guy, but apparently so had Ross because before I could respond, he spoke up.

"You keep up that hear-no-evil, see-no-evil act and we'll take you right back to your corner."

"Good!"

"And uncuff you while we loudly thank you for all of your valuable information."

"Ah, man, come on!"

"Come on is right, Skinny," I said, giving him another shove just because he was pissing me off. And because I was now filthy from head to toe because of him. And I'd missed lunch with Alex. "You can either start talking and we'll keep it quiet, or not and we won't."

"That's messed up, man," he muttered. "Okay, yeah, I know Johnson."

So that began our afternoon.

I sent Alex a quick text to let her know that we'd picked up Skinny, but she didn't reply so I hoped that meant she was sleeping.

And then Ross and I drove around for the next three hours as Skinny directed us to various locations where Johnson used to like to hideout whenever there was heat from the cops. Since Tomlin knew Johnson, it stood to reason that he would know about those places, too, but we didn't find any sign of him anywhere.

We didn't get back to 1PP until a little after four o'clock.

I hadn't eaten since breakfast and that hadn't been much, so I was starving.

And dirty.

And tired.

Although I had to admit to getting some pleasure from the fact that I knew Bishop had been waiting outside of Ross' office for the past four hours.

"So wait," Skinny said as we walked him through the lobby. "I helped you and you're still going to arrest me?"

"Assault, Skinny," I reminded him.

"I pushed him. Can I help it if he fell down like a little girl?"

"You're not helping your case," I replied, biting back a smile. "And you just admitted to pushing him, so…yeah, I'm arresting you."

We went up to the eleventh floor where I tossed Skinny in lock-up. I quickly told an officer to process him for assault and then went back into the squad room.

"I've got some work to do," Ross said to me.

I wondered if Bishop was going to keep her shield after the stunt she'd pulled today. I tried to feel bad about it, but I didn't.

Being partnered with me for three months more than six years ago couldn't have been _that _bad.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Chief," I told him.

I left right after he did. I knew that the others would be getting together at the bar, but I was ready to go home.

I'd already sent Sean a text to let him know that the lead had been a bust.

Apparently, they'd all been busts. We were no further along than we'd been when we arrived this morning.

So as I stomped up the stairs to our apartment, I forced myself to take a deep breath.

I didn't need to bring my day home with me.

It had been tiring and frustrating, but surely so had Alex's, just in a different way.

Recovering from an injury and being out of work was never fun.

I quietly unlocked the door and went inside.

"Hi, honey, you're home," Mary said to me. "And wow, what happened to that handsome, great-smelling man from this morning?"

"An encounter with a guy named Skinny," I replied. "You know Skinny, right? The lead that Alex found while using your computer this morning."

She smiled at me sheepishly and ducked her head before looking back up at me.

"How mad are you?"

"I'm not," I answered on a sigh. "Is she sleeping?"

"Yeah. She's been out for about an hour. You want a beer?"

I nodded so she went to the refrigerator while I took off my coat and suit jacket and then put my gun and badge on the table.

I stepped out of my shoes, too, leaving them near the door, and then I went down the hall to check on Alex.

She was sleeping soundly, on my side of the bed, half in and half out of the blankets. Her hair had fallen across her face, so I reached down and gently brushed it back behind her ear.

It hit me harder than ever just how much I'd missed her today.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead and then pulled the covers around her before going back to the kitchen.

Mary was sitting at the table with two bottles of beer and as I sat down across from her, she slid one of them towards me.

"Crappy day, huh?" she asked.

"Crappy case," I corrected.

"Yeah, Alex filled me in. So none of the leads panned out?"

I shook my head and said, "I have no idea where this guy is hiding. I don't believe that he'd leave town. He's too invested in his mission. This is the kind of thing where it feels like we're waiting for him to kill again just so that we'll have more clues."

"You'll find him," she said confidently. "You guys are the best."

"Sometimes I wonder."

"Don't," she replied firmly. "I've seen you two in action, remember?"

When I nodded, she finished off her beer and then got up from the table.

"I'm going to head out," she said. "Same time tomorrow?"

"That would be great. If all goes well, I think she'll be ready to go to the office on Wednesday."

"I don't think you'd be able to keep her away any longer than that."

"You know her well," I said. "And I'm sorry to hold up your apartment search."

"No problem," she said. She leaned down and kissed my cheek and then grabbed her coat before adding, "I mean, I can always move in with you two, right?"

TBC...


	58. Chapter 58

**Connie POV**

* * *

"Our group is feeling mighty small," Lupo commented after the Logans left the bar.

"It's funny how quickly we got used to being around so many people," I remarked. "It hasn't been that long since I was going home alone every night."

"Every night?" Hayes asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

I wasn't sure how much she'd had to drink, but apparently it was enough to make her feel comfortable about teasing me. And I was fine with that. It meant that she was getting more comfortable with the group as a whole.

"Sadly, yes," I replied. "Until Lupo finally got up the nerve to ask me out, I spent most of my time alone. At least, in the past few years anyway."

"Ah, the good old days, right Counselor?" Bernard joked.

"I can't imagine myself ever going back to that," I said. "And Lupo is right. It seems weird sitting here, just the four of us."

"Real life does tend to intervene from time to time," Hayes said wistfully. "But I can see how it would be addictive. Being part of the group, I mean. I'm pretty used to being alone, too."

"I'm sure that Janis keeps you company," Bernard told her, flashing her a half-smile.

"Who's Janice?" Lupo asked.

"My cat," Hayes replied. For some reason, her confession brought a smirk from Lupo.

"That wouldn't be a white cat, would it?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she answered, looking at him questioningly. He didn't say anything more, so she continued, "Anyway, I don't think Bernard much cares for her, but she is good company."

"She's a twenty-pound ball of fur," Bernard disputed, although there were undertones going on here that I wasn't privy to.

How did he know about her cat?

"Don't knock it til you've tried it," Hayes fired back good-naturedly.

The two of them continued to banter back and forth and I caught Lupo's eye across the table.

I quirked an eyebrow at him but he just smiled and shrugged.

I settled back in my chair and picked up my drink as I analyzed the progress of Lupo's black eye.

I'd been horrified when I'd hit him and even more so when I'd seen how much damage I'd done, but at the same time, I was also strangely pleased with myself.

And of course I don't mean because I'd hurt him. I hated the knowledge that I'd caused him pain.

But I mean because I could see first hand that maybe I could take care of myself.

I mean, that day that I'd punched Travis had been liberating and yet at the same time it had really hurt my hand.

But Lupo had taught me several different techniques that would allow me to fight back while doing minimal damage to myself.

And yeah, maybe I'd caught him when he was distracted, but still…if I could take him down, then I could probably take down just about anybody, right?

"How does your eye feel?" I asked him quietly as our table companions began a spirited debate over the merits of dogs versus cats.

"I forget about it until someone asks," he said, reaching across the table to hold my hand. And he had to be lying because it still looked painful, but I appreciated the effort.

"Is it just me, or do you kind of feel like a third wheel here?" I whispered, leaning in close to him so that I wouldn't be overheard.

"Do you want to go?" he asked with a grin. "I don't think Bernard would mind."

"Yeah, I don't think Hayes would either," I replied. Lupo looked at me quizzically, but I didn't elaborate. Instead, I suggested, "Let's finish our drinks and call it a night."

"Well…we don't have to call it a night, do we?" he countered. "I mean, it is early."

"Yes it is," I agreed with a smile. "What did you have in mind?"

"I think there are a couple of moves that I still need to show you."

"Self-defense?" I asked innocently.

"You up for another round, Lupes?" Bernard asked loudly. I sat back in my chair and gave Lupo a suggestive look. He held my gaze as he drained the last of his beer and then declined the offer.

"Not tonight, B. Otto's waiting at home."

"Otto?" Hayes asked.

"Our dog," I answered.

"See? Another plus for cats. There's no hurrying home to take them out for a walk."

"Yeah, but then you've got to scoop the cat box," Bernard countered with a look of distaste on his face.

Hayes laughed at him and he smiled back at her, and the two of us were once again forgotten.

"Let's go," I said as I got up from my chair. "Good night, guys."

"You're really going?" Bernard asked, suddenly looking nervous.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow," Lupo told him. He came around the table and held out my coat for me, so I quickly slipped it on and the two of us headed for the door.

"So have I mentioned how incredibly sexy you are with that black eye?"

"I'm not sure that sexy is the word I'd use."

"Dangerous. Rakish. Devilishly handsome."

"Devilishly handsome?" he said with a laugh.

"Uh huh," I assured him. "So take me home and show me your moves."

**

* * *

**

Carolyn POV

"You shouldn't come home to a dark house. It's not safe."

"And you shouldn't be stalking the home of a couple of cops," I retorted, tucking my gun back into its holster. "It's a good way to get yourself shot."

"A little on edge, guys?" Mary asked, stepping close enough to us so that I could finally see her face. "I told you that I might stop by tonight."

Mike looked at me in question, but I closed my eyes and gave him a nod.

She _had_ mentioned it. But that seemed like a lifetime ago and I'd completely forgotten about it.

Mike wasn't the only one working on the third day in a row with little or no sleep.

"What, no hugs for your brother's girlfriend?"

"Sorry," Mike said as he opened his arms to her. "It's been a bitch of a day."

"I can tell," she replied. She let go of him and then turned to hug me, too. "You guys need a drink."

"We just had three," I said.

"Then you need more," she said firmly. "Come on. I've been waiting out here for over an hour. I'm freezing."

"An hour? Why didn't you call? We've been at McNally's," I told her.

"I didn't know what you were doing and if you were still busy at work then I didn't want you to feel some kind of obligation to come home any sooner than you were ready. And what's with this weather anyway? I mean, I know it's New York, but it _is_ April."

"It's supposed to break by mid-week," Mike told her as he unlocked the door. "Why? What was it in Albuquerque?"

"Seriously?" she asked as she took off her coat. I turned on a few lights and then went into kitchen to get a bottle of Jack Daniels. "It was sixty-two when I got on the plane yesterday."

Mary followed me into the kitchen and then turned around questioningly when she realized that Mike hadn't followed.

"What's he doing?" she asked me as I set out three rocks glasses on the table.

"He's just looking around," I said dismissively.

Because even though it appeared as though our alarm was still activated when we'd come in the door, I knew that he didn't trust it.

Not after they'd stood right outside of our front door.

"With his gun out?"

I shrugged, but didn't reply.

"For what? Carolyn, what's going on?"

Mike came back into the room, jamming his weapon into his holster, and then he sat down heavily at the table.

"Logan?" she questioned, turning to him since I still hadn't responded. I opened the bottle of whiskey and filled our glasses and then sat down next to Mike.

"This case…" he began.

"The home invasions," she finished. "Alex told me a little bit about it."

"Yeah, well she doesn't know everything. She and Bobby have enough going on right now. We didn't want to add to it."

"Well, you're in luck," she said, picking up her glass. "Because I have absolutely nothing going on at the moment. So lay it on me."

We spent the next hour telling her about Chesley Watkins, and the case from five years ago as well as the current one.

"No wonder you almost shot me," she said after I told her about the note on the door. She sat back in her chair, shaking her head. "Wow, two grand?"

"Mary…"

"I just want to see what a two thousand dollar necklace looks like," she said, getting up from the table to come around next to me.

"How much do you think those studs in your ears cost?" Mike asked her as she reached out to carefully touch my pendant.

I couldn't believe that we'd gone from talking about murders to casually discussing jewelry but maybe that was a good thing.

Mike and I had been having trouble stepping back lately.

Of course, Chesley made that pretty damn hard when she was bringing the case to our front door, but still…we couldn't afford to lose perspective.

"What do you mean?" Mary asked him.

"I mean your diamond earrings," he repeated.

"I don't…I don't know," she said. She furrowed her brow and moved her hand from my necklace to her ear. "I didn't think…"

"You didn't think they were real?" I asked her. "John bought those for you, right?"

"Yeah," she answered. Then she went back to her chair and sat down. "Oh my God, I didn't even think about it. I mean, I'm forty years old. Lots of guys have given me jewelry over the years. It never occurred to me that they were…"

"You're dating a millionaire. What did you think?" Mike teased.

"So I might have a two thousand dollar necklace," I told her. "But you've got six thousand dollar earrings."

"Six thousand…please tell me you're kidding."

She picked up the bottle and poured herself another drink. John certainly didn't need to worry about the idea that Mary was only with him for his money.

"She's kidding," Mike said. "They were eight."

"He didn't say anything," she mumbled, dropping her head down to the table. "What if I'd lost one?"

"But you didn't," I reminded her.

"I'm going to kill him when I see him."

"No you're not," Mike said with a grin. "You're going to…"

"Mike," I interrupted.

"What?" he asked with feigned innocence.

"No, he's right," she said, still hiding her face in her arms. "Well, he would've been right. I was going to. I mean, we haven't, but I was planning on it. But now I can't."

"So…you haven't slept with him but you'd decided that you were ready and now, because you know he bought you expensive jewelry more than a month ago, you can't do it?"

"I just found out," she explained. "What if he thinks that's the reason why I'm suddenly ready?"

"He knows you better than that," Mike told her. "Hell, we all know you better than that. My only question is what the hell have you been waiting for?"

I kicked him under the table, but he was unrepentant.

"Ignore him," I told Mary, since Mike didn't retract his question. "It's none of our business."

"Oh, I was getting around to talking to you about it anyway," she said, finally lifting her head to look at me. "He's coming back on Friday, and I…I don't know. I thought this weekend might be a good time. We've been together two months and honestly, I've never dated anyone for two months without sex. Not even one month. I don't usually have that much restraint, and we all know how much I like to self-destruct, so I guess by jumping into bed right away I'm throwing the odds in the favor of the relationship failing, and…wait. How did we get onto my sex life? We're talking about your murder case, aren't we?"

"Murder, jewelry, sex," I stated, unable to resist smiling at her. She had a laidback way about her that always seemed to put me at ease.

"Right. So, what are we going to do about this Chesley woman?"

"Well, we've matched two partials from our door to the two crime scenes. We know that the killers have been here."

"And you got a sketch from the pawn shop guy, right?"

"Sketch is a good word," Mike said. "It's vague at best."

"So no warrant?"

"Not yet."

"How about this? Why don't we go at her like she's coming at you?"

"Meaning…"

"Meaning report the truancy to Child Services. Let them take a closer look at the fitness of her home. I know a guy at the IRS. I'm sure he wouldn't mind making an inquiry into her tax returns. Sit on her house and be obvious about it. It's time for you guys to get into _her_ head for a change."

"Give her a dose of her own medicine," Mike stated with a nod. "I like it."

"Me, too," I agreed.

"Good. That's settled. But first things first. You guys need sleep. You've both got bags the size of Texas."

"Thank you," I said drolly.

"No offense," she replied with a smile. "You know you're still beautiful. And Mike, well…you have to know what I think of you. If you had dark brown eyes you'd be the perfect man, but…I guess I'll have to wait for _that_ guy to show up on Friday. In the meantime, how about I crash on your couch?"

"We have guest rooms," I reminded her. "You don't have to sleep on the couch."

"Couches better suit my irritable temperament," she said.

But I knew what she was doing. She was offering to keep watch for us so that we could both relax enough to sleep.

"You don't have to do that," I said quietly. "We'll be fine. I'm sure you have a beautiful hotel room waiting for you."

"I do. Back in Manhattan. I promised Bobby that I'd come back tomorrow and their place is ten blocks away, so you'd really be doing me a favor."

"Mary Shannon, the guardian angel," Mike said.

"Hardly," she said on a laugh. "But I have a gun and I know how to use it. I also know where the blankets are, so I'll make myself at home. You two go to bed."

I gave her a hug and headed for the stairs with Mike close on my heels.

"And no funny business," she called out after us. "You need sleep, not sex. And Lord knows I don't want to hear you two going at it."

I chuckled at her as I continued up the stairs and into our bedroom.

I was practically asleep on my feet.

"I like her idea," Mike said as he shed his clothes. "We need to go on the offensive instead of just reacting."

"We should've thought of it. We're letting her get to us."

I climbed into the bed next to him and let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, now we're going to get to her."

TBC...


	59. Chapter 59

**Bernard POV**

* * *

After Lupo and Connie left, I figured that Hayes would be ready to call it a night.

It was one thing to sit and have a few drinks with a group of colleagues, but it was another now that it was just the two of us.

That kind of made it seem more intimate.

More like a date.

So when the waitress came back to our table, I told her to bring the check.

"You're calling it quits, too?" Hayes asked me. "Now see, I always figured you for having some staying power."

Her remark sparked a myriad of inappropriate responses in my head, but in addition to that, it brought a smile to my face.

"I guess I just assumed you were ready to go."

"You _assumed_," she stated with a grin. "I know you've heard that old saying."

I laughed and then realized that the waitress was still standing there, waiting to see whether or not I truly wanted to settle up.

"Um…I think we've changed our minds about the check," I told her. "How about you bring us another round instead?"

"We should move to another table," Hayes suggested after the waitress left. "It's just the two of us, taking up a table for ten."

"Sure," I agreed.

So we moved across the aisle into a booth.

"I guess I'm doing it to you again, huh?" she asked me after we were served our beers.

"What's that?"

She leaned across the table and said in a low voice, "Keeping you from a sure thing."

I had no idea what she was talking about.

Honestly, I was pretty sure that something in my brain had short-circuited from her husky tone of voice and the sly look on her face.

"Your girl," she said in explanation, sitting back and nodding her head towards the bar.

_Ah. _

The girl from last week, the one who had bought me a beer. She was once again sitting at the bar, and she was looking in our direction.

And if I didn't know better, I'd almost think that Hayes sounded a little jealous.

But I _did_ know better.

She was just giving me a hard time.

"Not my girl," I corrected.

"Okay, so the one who wants to be your girl."

"Oh, so you want to tease me about that, huh? Last week, you were amazed that any woman would find me attractive enough to make such a bold gesture."

"I don't think I ever said that."

"You _implied_ it."

"Or you _assumed_ it. That seems to be a habit of yours," she retorted with a grin as she picked up her glass.

"Do you ever lose an argument?" I joked. "Because you sound a lot like a lawyer to me."

"I actually went to law school," she said.

"Seriously?"

"Well, I didn't graduate," she admitted. "It just wasn't my thing. I went for a year and then bailed."

"So what brought you out to the Big Apple?" I asked, finally allowing myself to relax and enjoy our conversation. And I wasn't just asking to make small talk. I really wanted to know everything about her.

"Dumb luck," she said with a shrug. "And a guy. Sort of."

She took another sip of her beer, but stayed silent.

"That's all I get? Come on now, Hayes. You're going to have to do better than that or I'm not paying for that beer."

"I didn't know you were buying," she said, smiling again.

"I did promise to bring you out for a beer some time, didn't I?"

"Yeah, so that you could fill me in on all of your worldly experiences. Not so that I could put you to sleep with my life story."

"The way I see it, you owe my a few hours of sleep," I teased.

"Okay," she agreed thoughtfully. Then she gave a slow nod and added, "Okay, so…you really want to hear this?"

"Start talking or I'll let you pick up the whole check."

She laughed again said, "Fine. Okay, but don't blame me when you crack your head on the table after falling asleep sitting up."

"I promise not to hold you responsible. So, where in Minnesota are you from?"

"St. Paul, born and raised."

"The Twin Cities, huh?"

"Have you ever been there?"

"No," I admitted.

"Well, it was nice. I mean, I liked it a lot. I went to public school in a decent neighborhood. It wasn't anything special, but it wasn't bad, either."

"But?"

"It was lonely," she said after a minute. "My parents are both divorce lawyers. Can you imagine? They got divorced when I was twelve and it was like World War III."

"So who won? Which one did you live with?"

"My brother and I both moved in with my dad. My mom didn't really want us. That was what most of the arguing was about. Which one of them was going to get stuck raising the kids," she said with a cynical smile. "So I guess you could say that my mom won. She's a little bit more cutthroat than my dad."

"And yet you wanted to follow in their footsteps."

I couldn't picture her as a lawyer. I've never cared much for any of the attorneys that I'd ever met until I ran across Connie. I liked her even before Lupo started dating her, just because she was so honest and still had her moral compass intact. But I hadn't found that to be the norm.

"No, not really. But for awhile I kind of let myself be directed. After the divorce, my brother got into drugs. I guess that was his way of coping. Anyway, he OD'd when he was a sophomore in high school."

"That had to be hard," I commented quietly. "How old were you?"

"Fourteen. We were only eleven months apart."

"So you were close."

"Until he got into that lifestyle, yeah."

She paused for a minute and finished off her beer before bringing her eyes back to mine.

Again, I had that feeling of breathlessness just from the impact of her gaze. I was pretty sure I'd never seen anyone with eyes the color of hers and they were just so…earnest and intense.

"So anyway, after he died, I turned inside of myself and threw all of my focus into school. My parents had never been shy about the fact that they expected me to go to law school, so I just sort of did it. I got my degree in Criminal Justice at Minnesota State and then I got accepted at Northwestern."

"You didn't like it?"

"I hated it. I wanted to be a cop."

"So where does the guy come into play?" I asked, hoping that it wasn't going to be some story about him being the love of her life or something.

"I started dating him after my first week at Northwestern. I'd met him over the summer during an internship but we kept it professional until I left the firm and started classes. We were together for that whole year. He's actually the one who convinced me that if I wanted to be a cop, then I should go for it. So if nothing else, I suppose I should thank him for that."

"If nothing else?"

_Maybe _not_ the love of her life_.

"I wanted to be in a big city, so I applied to the police academies in New York, Miami, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles…I was so cliché," she said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

"Why not Chicago? You were already there."

"Chicago is way too close to St. Paul," she said pointedly. "Anyway, Nick got offered a job with a big firm here in New York at about the same time I found out that I was accepted into the academy here. We thought it was fate."

"And then?"

"And then his ex-girlfriend came back on the scene. She looked to be about seven months pregnant. With _his_ baby."

"Ouch," I said, quickly doing the math. "So she wasn't quite an ex."

"Nope. Or at least not for as long as I thought she'd been one. He decided that he had to try to make a go of it with her. He turned down the offer here so that he could stay in Chicago and get married."

"And you came here anyway," I said with an unrealistic feeling of pride.

Good for her to follow through with her dream even after having her heart broken.

"I did, and I've never regretted it."

"What do your parents think?"

"Oh, they call every once in a while just to see if I've come to my senses. They tell me that it's not too late to finish up my last two years and join the bar. But it's not for me. I love being a cop."

Her last statement was said with great satisfaction as she once again leaned back in the booth.

For some reason, all I could think about was how much I wanted her to let her hair down. It was crazy, I know. At some point, I might have to analyze my obsession.

But seriously, she'd just done so figuratively, so why not literally?

"What?" she asked me as I continued to stare at her.

"Why do you always wear your hair back?" I asked.

"I don't," she said, running her hand self-consciously over the neat bun. "I mean, I do at _work_."

"It's not going to make people forget you're a woman," I stated. I was surprised by the fact that those words had just come out of my mouth and yet I was kind of glad that they did.

I mean, we could have that kind of relationship, right?

Men and women could be friends.

It didn't _always_ have to be about sex.

"I don't…is that why you think I do it?"

"Isn't it?"

"It's just more practical. And yeah, I guess I think it might get me more respect. It's kind of hard to look tough to a suspect if I've got my hair hanging in my eyes, you know?" she said, and then she laughed and added, "Well, okay, you probably _don't_ know."

"You'll get respect," I said quietly. "Because you'll earn it. You're already well on your way to that and you've only had your shield for a few weeks."

"Thanks," she replied with a smile. She held my gaze a moment longer and then looked at her watch. "You're a good listener. I didn't realize it was so late."

"Yeah, I suppose we'd better go," I agreed, although I didn't want to.

Who needed sleep when the alternative was sitting here and listening to her all night?

I signaled to the waitress for a check, and when she brought it over, Hayes took it from me.

"I'll get it," she said.

"I don't think so," I argued.

"Yeah," she insisted, getting up from the table. "This way I know we'll have to do this again sometime. Because you'll still owe me, right? Besides, you still didn't dazzle me with your worldy experiences."

I liked her logic, and even more, I liked the fact that she wanted to do this again. I guess she didn't have many friends after her move to the 2-7. Sometimes it was tough getting a promotion that took you to another precinct.

"I definitely owe you. And we'll do this again."

So I let her pay the check and then together we walked out of the bar.

"You know, the T-wolves are in town this weekend. I haven't checked to see whether or not it's sold out."

"I can't imagine that it would be," I teased. "Who'd want to see the Timberwolves?"

"Ha ha," she retorted. "I thought that maybe if I can get tickets and if we're not working…you know, I thought you might want to see a real team play."

"A real team?" I repeated, unable to control my laughter. "Yeah, I'd love to see a real team play. When are the Lakers coming to town?"

"Fine. If I can get tickets, you come with me," she stated. "And then when the Lakers limp into New York, _you_ can get the tickets."

There was no way in the world that this woman was asking me on a date.

And there was also no way that I was going to turn down doing _any_thing with her.

If our roles were going to be basketball-watching buddies, then I was on board.

"Sounds like a deal to me."

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

I woke up to the most heavenly smell.

Okay, it was actually two of the most heavenly smells.

The whole apartment smelled of lasagna. Mary must have decided to warm up the pan that my mother had brought over earlier in the day.

Although the second smell had me re-evaluating that assumption.

Because the second smell was Bobby, just out of the shower.

I don't know when he'd gotten home, but he'd clearly been here long enough to put the lasagna in the oven, take a shower, and then stretch out behind me in the bed so that the fragrant warmth of him enveloped me from head to toe.

I took a moment just to breathe him in.

Yeah, he definitely smelled better than the lasagna.

"You're home," I said quietly. "How long?"

"About an hour," was his rumbled reply. He must have been nearing sleep, even though his fingers were still steadily running through my hair.

"Is Mary gone?"

"Uh huh," he murmured. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry. I smell you found the lasagna."

"That was nice of your mother."

"I think she needed to escape the house," I replied.

But that innocent comment brought my mind back around to the case again.

Because we still hadn't caught Tomlin.

Which meant that Kevin was still in danger.

Which meant that he was still at my mom's house.

And so she was living with four kids, two men, and a pregnant woman.

No wonder she'd hung out over here for nearly two hours today.

"It's probably ready. I'll go fix us some," he offered, but I stopped him before he got very far.

"I'll get it," I told him. I carefully sat up in the bed and looked back at him. "Bad day, huh?"

I was still sore, but I was pleased to find that it wasn't breath-taking, nauseating soreness. It was tolerable soreness.

I reached out my hand and settled it on Bobby's stubbly cheek.

"I ran into Bishop again," he said.

"What, is she stalking you or something?"

"She's into this whole CI thing. Skinny is another one of hers. He escaped while she was arguing with us over whether or not we could talk to him."

"We. So she was arguing with the Chief of Detectives? Is she that ballsy, or just that stupid?"

"Ross was pretty ticked, especially after we had to run twenty blocks to catch him."

"Was he helpful?"

"We drove around all afternoon. He pointed out half a dozen places where Tomlin might shack up, but it was pointless."

"I'm sorry," I said, still rubbing my hand against his face. He'd let his eyes fall closed, and I wished that I had the use of both of my hands. I wanted to make him feel better after his day.

"No, don't be. It was a good lead. It could've panned out. The others were good leads, too. But none of them netted us anything. Tomlin's just not taking any chances, apparently. He's hiding somewhere that no one knows about."

"So what happened to Bishop?"

"I don't know. Ross sent her to wait at his office. If I had to guess, I'd say that she's got a suspension coming to her."

"I'd really love to know what her problem is with the two of us."

"I don't know, but she definitely wrote her own ticket today. She accused Ross of being in the boys' club."

I shook my head and chuckled in amazement at the idea of someone saying that to his face.

And not only that, but it definitely wasn't true.

Ross certainly has his flaws, but even back in the old days when we weren't friends, he never treated me differently due to my gender.

"She'll be lucky if all she gets is suspended."

I started to pull my hand away so that I could get up from the bed, but Bobby reached up and grabbed onto my wrist. He brought my hand around to his lips and kissed my palm.

"Where are you going?" he asked in a husky voice. "I missed you today."

"I'm going to bring you dinner," I reminded him, ignoring the fluttering feeling that raced through my stomach at his sweet declaration.

"I'll do it," he said.

He let go of my hand as he sat up in the bed. The blanket settled around his waist and I looked over him for a moment, appreciating the sight of his bare chest.

I ran my fingers across his chest and then trailed them lower, just to the edge of the covers.

"I can do it," I assured him. "I need to get up and move around."

"You don't need to get up for that," he teased suggestively, leaning in to press his lips against mine.

"You did promise me some creativity," I reminded him.

In the end, Bobby followed me to the kitchen and we had dinner at the table.

He'd put on a pair of sweatpants, but left his shirt off and for some reason I found that to be very distracting.

Maybe it was because it had been four days since we'd been together _like that_.

And probably because I knew that he still wasn't going to give in to me tonight, either.

He was too afraid that he was going to hurt me.

"I don't want to get back into the bed yet," I said after we finished eating. "Is that okay?"

I knew that he was tired from his day, but it was still fairly early, and I'd spent a large portion of my day in bed.

"What did you have in mind?"

So we ended up sitting together in the recliner while watching a movie on DVD.

I leaned into him, my right side against his chest, and gently ran my fingers over his skin.

"Are you sure you're comfortable?" he asked me after a few minutes. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "I saw your shoes by the door. Looks like another pair bites the dust, huh?"

"Yeah. I'd like to send Bishop the bill."

"That sounds like a great idea," I agreed, even though I'd made a mental note to pick him up another pair. Those were his favorite shoes.

"I don't want to talk about the case," he said as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "It's out there, remember?"

"Okay," I said, turning into him so that I could kiss his chest. "Then how about you just sit back and relax?"

"That's what I'm doing."

"No, I mean, _relax_," I said, slipping my hand beneath the waistband of his sweatpants.

He groaned out my name but kept his eyes closed.

"I'm not making love to you," he said, and his voice was already strained. "It's too soon."

I'd gotten him worked up pretty quickly, although I guess that it had been four days for him, too.

As much as I wanted him, I could understand his hesitation.

Besides that, I was tired of all of the attention being on me.

Sometimes it was just as hard, if not harder, to be the healthy one.

Because everything fell back onto that person, all of the responsibilities combined with the additional stress of having to take care of the injured person.

And I knew that he was stressed.

I knew he'd been smoking lately.

I wasn't going to bust him for it because I also knew that he'd quit again after a few days.

But still…as much as the focus had been on me lately, I decided that it was time for it to be on him for a little while.

"So you said," I replied with a smile. "But I'm pretty sure that even with only one hand, I'm quite capable of making you feel good."

He expelled a deep breath, his fingers gripping into my hips momentarily before he brought his hand down onto mine, stilling my motions. I looked up at him and found him staring at me intently.

"You don't have to do that to make me feel good," he argued gently. "You, just being here with me…that's all it takes."

TBC...


	60. Chapter 60

**Mary** **POV**

* * *

After shooing Mike and Carolyn off to bed, I pulled out my weapon and did a quick check of the lower level of the house.

Because even though I'd tried to sound confident about what their next course of action should be, I had to admit to being a little creeped out by this Watkins woman. It sounded like she'd perfected the art of brainwashing, and a perp who couldn't think for himself could be a dangerous one.

But my search showed that all was well, so I went to the closet and got out a blanket. I sat in the chair, instead of on the couch, so that I could have a view of the front door.

I put my gun on the table next to me and propped my head up in my hand.

I missed John.

And I hated to miss anyone.

It really bugged me knowing that my life felt somehow _less_ because he wasn't around.

I was pretty sure I'd never felt like that before.

I checked my watch. It was early, not quite eleven. But that meant it was almost four a.m. in London, so I couldn't call him.

He'd be back on Friday.

Or at least, that was his plan.

My plan had been to be waiting for him in the penthouse suite of his hotel where I would then go about seducing him.

Seduction wasn't really my forte but I was going to give it my best shot.

But now…now I wasn't so sure. He'd spent _eight thousand dollars_ on me.

Was that something he normally did?

I mean, was he so rich that that amount of money was no big deal to him?

Yes, he was that rich.

But I wasn't sure if buying extravagant gifts was part of his M.O. Had he done things like that for all of his girlfriends?

I liked to think of myself as different, but was I?

And could I really, in good conscience, sleep with him now?

Surely Mike would make mention of the fact that I'd been surprised to hear about the cost of the earrings.

So then would it stick in John's mind that now, suddenly, after waiting for two months, I find out how much money he spent on me and then I'm ready to seal the deal?

It shouldn't.

I mean, I'd never asked him for anything. In fact, I tried to pretend like he wasn't a millionaire.

It was hard sometimes, considering he had his own plane and his own driver, but still…he would come to Albuquerque sometimes and hang out with me at my favorite dive bar and he'd blend right in.

And he'd never looked down his nose at my place.

He was genuine and generous. And sweet and thoughtful and caring.

And _so_ nice to look at.

So what was I really waiting for?

I loved him.

But did he love me?

And when, for the love of God, had I completely tangled up the notion of sex and love?

_Since I'm the one who's in love_, I told myself.

Usually it was the other way around.

Usually I avoided attachments while not worrying about the emotions of those involved with me. Sex had always been an easy thing for me because it was simply about physical gratification.

But now it wasn't. When we'd made the decision to wait, it had changed all of the rules. It had somehow put a level of importance on the act that I'd previously always managed to avoid.

I leaned my head back against the chair and sighed.

I let my eyes fall closed and then my phone started ringing, nearly causing me to jump from the chair.

I pulled it from my pocket.

"Inspector Shannon," I answered, forcing my voice to sound professional. I hadn't checked the display, but it was likely Stan.

"What are you wearing, Inspector?"

And just the sound of John's voice sent a wave of happiness through me. It was almost disconcerting because I rarely do happy, but yet there it was.

"What are you doing up so late?" I asked, unable to contain my smile.

"Early," he corrected. "I've got a meeting at six-thirty, so my alarm is set for five, but you know what?"

"What?"

"I'm missing you so much that I can't sleep," he told me in a low, husky voice.

A flood of arousal went through me at his admission, and I wished desperately that he wasn't on another continent.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," I said reflexively.

What can I say? I have trouble expressing my true feelings.

"No, just one girl in particular. Are you at the hotel?"

"I'm at Mike's. They're having a hard time with a case. I'm sleeping on their couch. Or, in their chair I guess."

"Are they okay?"

"So far," I replied. "I'm going back to stay with Alex tomorrow and then after that, I think I'll see if I can help them out."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm sure that's not why you called. Is everything okay there?"

"Everything is fine. I really just called to hear your voice."

See? Sweet.

I wanted him to be here…I wanted to kiss him and tell him that I loved him. I hadn't said the words out loud yet, but I thought that maybe it was about time. Maybe I would be brave enough to do it. And hopefully he'd return the sentiment.

"Mike told me about the earrings," I blurted out.

And it hadn't been on my mind, or at least not since he'd called, so I wasn't sure where it came from except that I guess my subconscious was still fixated on the idea that he might think I _needed_ things like that. I didn't. I just needed him.

"Are you upset with me?"

That was his question. Not what did Mike say, but was I upset.

"You knew I didn't know that."

"If you'd known, you would've probably given them back," he admitted.

"Then why…"

"I wanted you to have something as beautiful as you. I wanted to give you something that you would never give to yourself."

"Oh sure, go and say something romantic so that I won't be mad."

Although I wasn't mad. And knowing that he knew I didn't expect things like that from him made it all that much better.

"Mary, what good does it do me to have all of this money if I can't buy things for the people that I…I mean, for the…people I care about?"

He'd almost said love.

And I was getting so ridiculously sappy and emotional that I wasn't sure what to do with myself.

"I just don't want you to think that I care about the money," I finally said.

"There isn't a materialistic bone in your body. I know that. You don't ever have to worry about me thinking otherwise."

"I'm sorry. And I'm not mad," I told him. "It just messed with my head for a little while. Because I'd been thinking…I was going to…"

I trailed off, letting out a heavy sigh instead.

"You know what I'm thinking?"

"I'm afraid to ask," I joked.

"I'm thinking that Friday can't get here soon enough. I've really missed you, Mary. Honestly, even more than I expected."

"I miss you, too," I admitted.

"Do you?"

Of course he would ask that. Surely my admission caught him by surprise.

I'm not exactly forthcoming with my feelings.

Or not normally anyway.

But maybe it was time to change that.

"You have no idea how much," I said. "And there are other things I want to say to you, but not on the phone."

"Other things?" he asked, and I could hear him smiling.

"Other good things," I promised. "Friday, okay?"

"Okay. So you never answered my other question."

"What was that?"

"What are you wearing, Inspector?" he repeated, dropping his voice again to a low growl.

And let me say this for the record. I don't do phone sex.

Or, I never _did_.

Now, apparently, I do.

"Funny you should ask…"

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

I went back to work on Wednesday under Bobby's watchful eye.

It felt like I had been gone forever, and I was anxious to get back to it, but by the end of the day on Friday, it already felt like I'd never left.

The past three days had been frustrating and tedious and full of dead ends.

Lupo and Bernard had picked up a new case on Tuesday, so we were back to just the four of us, but that was fine because it wasn't like we had an overabundance of leads.

Tomlin wasn't showing his face anywhere.

On a good note, no more dead bodies had turned up either so that was something.

But in the meantime, Kevin's life was still in limbo and the longer it went on, the more anxious he got.

"Remind me again why I was in such a hurry to go back to work?" I asked Bobby as we left 1PP on Friday evening.

Everything on me ached, including my brain.

"Because it's what you do," he replied. "And because you missed me."

"Well, there is that," I said with a tired smile.

"Mike said that he and Carolyn are going to Steve-O's tonight. Do you feel up to socializing or do you want to go home?"

"We've hardly seen them all week. Let's go for a little while."

I sat back in the passenger seat and relaxed as Bobby drove us home in the SUV. The bar was only five blocks away, so it was definitely smarter to just park at home and walk up the street.

Besides, someone had finally told the sun that it was April. For the past two days, we'd had temperatures in the sixties, so even though it was starting to get dark, it was still fairly nice outside.

"Are you sure you're up for the walk? I can drop you off first," he offered as we neared our place.

"No, a walk sounds nice."

Even though I was tired, a five-block stroll with Bobby was appealing. We'd spent most of the day at our desks, so the fresh air would probably do us both some good.

He found a place to park in front of our building and then he came around to my side of the truck and helped me out.

"You don't need to do that," I told him, although the kindness of the gesture sent a warm feeling through me.

"I like to," he replied as he took my hand in his.

My left arm was still in a sling to keep my shoulder immobilized. The doctor had said two to six weeks, which to me said more like ten days. Today was day eight, so I hoped to have it off by the time I went back to work on Monday.

As for recovery from the surgery itself, I was feeling pretty good. It actually hurt much less than my shoulder. Liz had said that since the surgeon had been able to go in laproscopically that my recovery time would be greatly reduced, and she was right. I wouldn't want to get hit in that area any time soon, but other than that, I was pleased with my progress.

It could've been a lot worse.

Mike and Carolyn were already seated when we got there, and I was surprised to find that Mary had joined them.

"Isn't John back yet?" I asked her as Bobby helped me out of my coat.

"He should be here in another hour or so," she replied.

"He's coming here?" Bobby asked.

"Um…no. I'm meeting him."

"At the hotel," Mike added with a grin.

Bobby went to the bar to get our drinks since the waitress hadn't stopped by yet. I'd been off of pain medication for two days now so I was cleared to have a drink and after the week we'd had, I was more than ready for one. Maybe even two.

"Where he and I are both staying," Mary clarified. And then at my raised eyebrow, she said, "Separately. I mean, we each have our own rooms. And why am I explaining myself? Don't you guys have cases to talk about?"

"Yeah, but they're not nearly as exciting," Mike told her.

"No, she's right," I said, saving Mike from a possible beating. "Tell us what's going on with your home invasions."

He sat back in his chair and picked up his glass as he looked at Carolyn.

"Nothing," he said, still holding her gaze. "We're spinning our wheels."

"And…" Mary said encouragingly, but then both Mike and Carolyn turned to look at her and suddenly there was a whole lot being discussed at the table without a single word being said.

"Since when did you get tight-lipped with us?" I asked them.

"Since you nearly fell to your death last week," Mike retorted.

"But I'm sitting here just fine now, aren't I? So are you going to tell us what's been going on or do I have to beat it out of you?"

I'll give him credit for trying not to laugh. I did still have my arm in a sling.

But I was also pretty worried about the idea that they might be in a sticky situation that they were covering up because of me. That was unacceptable.

"Okay, smart ass," I added when he couldn't stop the grin. "Tell us or _he'll_ beat it out of you."

I nodded my head toward Bobby who was just now coming back to the table with our drinks.

"What did I miss?" he asked curiously.

"Alex is pimping out your services," Carolyn said.

"Again?" he asked me with a smile.

I shook my head at his teasing reminder and then gratefully took my drink from his hand.

"Our suspect is taking an interest in us," Mike finally admitted.

"On a personal level," Carolyn added.

"Is this the foster mother you were telling us about?"

"She's sent her boys to our house," Mike said with a nod.

"Have you been able to find any evidence against her?"

So they filled us in on their week.

The fingerprints which matched up to those at their crime scenes. The note on the front door. The boy killed in the hit and run.

"But we've been getting back at her," Carolyn said. "Child Services has done a home visit. The IRS has initiated an audit."

"And Mary's been following her around," Mike said.

I glanced at Mary, but she just shrugged and said, "I was the obvious choice. I'm pretty good at annoying people."

"And I'd say it's working," I said. "I mean, I haven't heard about any new murders, right?"

"No new murders," Mike agreed.

"Because you're keeping her on her heels," Bobby stated. "That's an interesting tactic. So what's next?"

"We need to get to those boys," Carolyn stated. "And we need to find out where she's keeping her stash. We were able to tie the murder weapon to one of the old murders, so we can definitively say that they're related, but we still can't prove that it's her."

"You think one of the boys will roll on her?"

"One of them would have," Mike said. "The one she had killed. I'm not sure about the other three."

"What did you find out about the hit and run? Did you work that angle?"

"We've got half a dozen conflicting witness statements. There was no damage to Watkins' car, so she was at least smart enough to not use her own vehicle."

"We spent today going through stolen vehicle reports."

"Ah, well, so did we," I told them. "Our 72 Chevelle turned up in a chop shop on Tuesday, so now we really know nothing."

"But you don't have any new murders either," Mike pointed out.

"Not yet," Bobby said. "But it's coming. I can feel it. He's not going to be able to wait much longer."

We all sat in quiet for a minute, each of us lost in our own thoughts, and then Mary's phone rang. Her face lit up immediately as she glanced at the display.

"That's my cue," she said as she got up from the table. "It's been fun, but…"

"Yeah, yeah," Mike said, waving her off. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That pretty much leaves me wide open, doesn't it?"

She tossed a twenty on the table and then grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

I heard her speaking to someone across the room, so I turned to see who had come in.

It was Kevin.

He spoke briefly to her and then made a beeline for our table.

"Kevin, what's wrong?"

"I thought I might find you guys here. I went by your place, but…"

"What is it?" Bobby asked him, and I could tell from the tone of his voice that his radar was up, just like mine.

"I can't wait any more. I'm just…I'm done."

"You can't be done just because you've decided it," I told him. "It won't be done until it's over."

"Right," he agreed. "And I have an idea."

TBC...


	61. Chapter 61

**Liz POV**

* * *

What a difference a week can make.

Here it was, Friday. A week after Danny and my trip to the Catskills, and not only was I back in the groove at work, but I also felt a renewed confidence in my marriage.

Prior to that trip, I'd been uncertain and timid and unable to make a decision.

About _anything_.

Since then, I was back on my game.

It didn't hurt that when I arrived back at work on Monday, I found that the Chief ME had put in a new security system.

I had a feeling that maybe Danny was behind that, but then again, maybe not.

Surely it hadn't been good PR for the OCME to have one of their own get attacked in the morgue.

Not that any morgue ever really got _good_ PR, but still…I appreciated that he was willing to go the extra mile to look out for his staff.

I'd dumped my workload so unexpectedly onto Jenkins that when Monday came around, I took over for him. To be honest, I didn't really care for the man, but that didn't mean I should take his assistance for granted.

"Take the day," I'd told him. "I owe you.

"We're a team, Liz," he'd argued. "I didn't mind picking up the slack."

"And I don't mind getting yours today. Go. It'll make me feel better."

So he went.

And I'd spent the entire day in my morgue, working diligently.

True, I'd still triple-knotted my scrub pants, but aside from that, I felt pretty good. And really, I'd been doing that for so long that I think maybe it was more out of habit than fear.

At noon, Andrew had shown up with lunch.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I'd told him. "I already have plans with my husband."

I didn't, because Danny was with Bobby for the day, but that wasn't really the point.

At my decline, Andrew looked mildly upset and then he'd left my office and headed for the break room. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but I did need to establish the boundaries.

And apparently it worked.

He still brought me coffee all week, but he didn't try to feed me.

On Tuesday morning, as Danny and I had been getting ready for work, he got a call.

"Yes sir," he'd responded to the caller, which meant that it was the commissioner.

And if he was calling Danny at six-thirty in the morning, then either someone important was dead or someone dead was found in some important place.

Turned out I was right, on both counts.

"We've got a body in Central Park Zoo," Danny said to me after he hung up. "I'd like you on it, if you're ready. This one might get ugly, though."

"I'm ready," I'd assured him. I was more than ready to jump in with both feet. I'd wasted enough time feeling sorry for myself. "What is it?"

"An ADA from Richmond County."

I already didn't like it. Someone had killed an ADA?

That made me think too much about Connie.

"Liz?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He continued to watch me hesitantly, so I crossed the room to stand in front of him and grabbed onto his tie.

"It just made me think about Connie for a second," I'd admitted as I adjusted the knot and slid it into place.

"There's nothing wrong with identifying with the victim," he said, resting his hands on top of mine. "And there's nothing wrong with not being ready to jump into the limelight. There's going to be heat on this one."

"Danny," I said, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. "I'm ready. Where in the zoo?"

"The sea lions have company," he said drolly.

"In the water or on the rocks?"

"In the water."

"Oh, well, so much for preserving the crime scene," I mumbled as I turned away from him to find my shoes. "Okay, so the water is going to make it a challenge, but…"

I stopped my rambling when I realized that he was staring at me with a half-smile on his face.

"What?"

"I love you."

His words caught me completely off-guard, but they still brought a smile to my face.

"I just thought I'd get that in before our world gets crazy again."

"Good thinking," I replied.

"I'll let the Chief know that you're on this. And I need to call my detectives, too."

"Who's up?" I asked him as I got up from the chair and grabbed for my cell phone.

"I'm calling Lupo and Bernard. The Tomlin case has slowed down. Alex will be back tomorrow. I think the four of them can handle it."

"Okay. When you call, tell them that I'm already on my way."

I headed for the door and then I stopped and pulled Danny into a hug.

"I love you, too. I'll call you later."

So I left our house and drove to Central Park.

That was how I spent my Tuesday. Recovering the body of the misfortunate ADA from the sea lion habitat and then completing the autopsy.

When Lupo and Bernard had shown up at the scene, I felt like maybe they were being a little distant. They were probably still annoyed with me for my rudeness at the crime scene last week.

"Hey, Detectives," I said just as they began to leave the scene. "About last week…"

"Don't give it a second thought, Doc," Lupo had replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Everyone has an off day," he insisted. "Things are…better?"

"Much. Thanks. I've missed the debriefings, though."

"Friday night at McNally's," he'd said, finally allowing himself to smile.

"Is something else on your mind?" I asked.

And I couldn't hold back any longer, so I reached out my hand and touched his bruised eye socket. He stood still while I poked at him and then he shook his head.

"No," he answered.

I let it go because I figured that it had to do with the victim being an ADA.

I got the body back to the morgue and completed the autopsy. The cause of death was strangulation.

"I'd put your TOD at around four a.m.," I told the detectives when they came to see me.

"How long was he in the water?"

"My estimate? Two to three hours. I don't think there's too much trickery going on here, gentlemen. I think someone strangled your guy and tossed him into the water. Lucky for us it was the sea lion habitat instead of something a little more…carnivorous. I mean, they are, but…you know what I'm saying."

"Better them than the great white tank, is that it, Doc?" Bernard asked.

"Exactly. Do they even have great whites at Central Park?"

We discussed a few more particulars and then they were off and running.

Wednesday and Thursday were much the same except for the early morning call-out. I went on a few runs during the day, but nothing exciting.

And nothing for any of my favorite crew.

Considering they all had cases, it was probably a good thing. It meant that their specific killers weren't presently _killing_.

Since Alex had gone back to work on Wednesday, Danny was back in his office.

Which meant that he came to my office for lunch that day.

_And_ the next day.

On Friday, he got held up in meetings, but he sent me a text.

_**I'll meet you at McNally's by 6:00**_.

I was actually looking forward to it.

I wasn't sure if Alex and Bobby would be there since she was probably short on energy these days, but it had been awhile since I'd seen the others, too. At least, in a social situation.

When I got there, it wasn't the group that I'd expected. Sean's new partner, Hayes, was there along with Sean and his wife, Lupo and Connie, Bernard, and Danny.

"Where are Mike and Carolyn?" I asked as I sat down next to my husband.

"Their case is sucking them dry," Lupo answered. "They were going to Steve-O's for a quick round and then heading home."

Which meant that Alex and Bobby were probably with them. And Mary. I knew that she was in town, although I hadn't seen her yet.

I was thinking that maybe I needed to invite all of the women to my house for a girls' night.

We had a lot of catching up to do, all the way around.

"How's your case going?" I asked Lupo.

"We think it's a hostile former lover," he replied.

"Although that description is a little redundant," Bernard joked. "What former lover isn't hostile?"

"You've never had a good break-up?" Hayes asked him.

When she spoke, I turned to look at her, and it struck me what was different about her.

Her hair was down.

Every other time I'd seen her, it had been in a tight bun, but tonight, it was loose, hanging past her shoulders.

And even though she was sitting next to her partner, her chair was angled towards Bernard.

"They don't exist. They're a complete myth," he insisted.

And then the two of them began a discussion about the possibility of friendship after a relationship.

I watched them a moment longer and suddenly found myself smiling.

"What?" Danny asked me quietly.

"Those two," I whispered back.

"Who? Bernard and Hayes? What about them?"

"Nothing," I said, patting his leg with my hand. Something was going on there, but I wasn't going to jinx it. And no one else seemed to notice, or if they did, they pretended not to.

Lupo took over the discussion about the case.

"She doesn't have an alibi," he explained. "And the guy really did a number on her. He had two other women on the side. She learned about the affairs two days before he was killed."

"And she's strong enough to have been able to pull it off?" I asked him, although I was relieved to hear that it was something of a personal nature. It was much better to think that than the alternative, which was that someone was targeting ADA's.

"She looked pretty buff to me," he stated. Connie raised her eyebrows at him and he added, "In a very unattractive, manly kind of way. You know, it's not a good look for a woman…excessive working out and weight-lifting."

"No, it's not. Besides, who needs that, right Connie?" Alicia remarked. "All you need is a well-placed elbow."

Sean started laughing and by the shared looks around the table, I thought I might have it pieced together.

"Did you do that to him?" I asked Connie. Lupo's eye looked better than it had when I'd seen him on Tuesday, but that wasn't saying much. It still looked painful.

"He was teaching me self-defense," she explained. "We had a little…training accident."

"Anyway," Lupo said loudly. "So yes, I think the ex is strong enough to strangle the guy. And strong enough to get him into the water. Bernard and I took a run at her today, but she was pretty cool. We're going to take another pass at her tomorrow, right B.?"

Lupo turned to Bernard, but he obviously hadn't heard the question. He was still chatting with Hayes.

"What's that, Lupes?" Bernard asked when he realized that he'd been spoken to.

"Tomorrow. You and me and the ex."

"Right. We'll wrap it up by five, right?"

"Five? Why? You got a hot date or something?" Sean asked him.

I like Sean Eames. A lot, actually.

But he absolutely does not have any of his sister's astuteness.

I think that he and Danny were the only two at the table who couldn't see what was going on.

"Not a date," Bernard corrected. "But I do have plans."

Okay, so maybe Bernard didn't see what was going on either. Hayes actually looked a little disappointed by his clarification which told me without a doubt that his five o'clock plans involved her.

"We'll wrap it up early," Lupo told him. "And if not, then I'll handle it. I think I probably owe you."

I sat back in my chair as the conversation ebbed and flowed around me.

I missed Alex and Bobby, and the Logans, too, but it was still relaxing to unwind with friends.

And I was sure that once Alex was back up to par, then the others would be joining us again, too.

"Another round?" the waitress asked us when she came to the table.

"All the way around," Danny told her. As she left, he said, "Drinks are on me tonight. It's been a rough couple of weeks, and you guys have done a great job."

"Thank you, sir," Hayes said quickly.

"And when we're off the clock, you don't have to call me sir," he told her with a smile.

More drinks were brought to the table, but just as Lupo reached for his glass, his cell phone started to ring.

And then so did mine.

And Danny's.

"This can't be good," Lupo muttered.

And it wasn't.

There was another dead ADA.

"Do you have a name?" Lupo asked.

Danny and I had already disconnected our calls, having gotten the needed information, but for some reason, Lupo wanted to know the ID.

I got up from my chair but kept my eyes on his face as he listened for a moment and then hung up the phone.

"Another Staten Island ADA," Danny stated with a nod, looking at Lupo and Bernard. He, like me, was unsure of the cause of Lupo's hesitation.

"Uh huh," Lupo nodded.

"But…"

"You may need to pull me from this case, Chief," he said.

"What's going on?" Bernard asked him.

"Why, Detective?" Danny questioned.

But Lupo turned and looked at Connie as he answered.

"The victim is Lee Gingrich," he said, reaching out to take Connie's hand. "He and Connie have a…history. And earlier this week, I…sort of…threatened to kill him."

TBC...


	62. Chapter 62

**Bobby POV**

* * *

Kevin's idea wasn't horrible.

But he was a little bit over-anxious to put it into motion.

"I'll go right now," he said.

"Not right now," Alex argued. "Just relax. We need to talk this through."

"But Alex…"

"I'll throw you in lock-up tonight if you don't settle down and discuss this reasonably," she threatened.

We were still sitting in Steve-O's, and Kevin had taken over Mary's vacated chair.

"Don't get all cop-like on me," he told her, although I could see the beginning of a smirk on his face.

"Um, you do realize that you're sitting at a table with four cops, right?" Carolyn asked.

"Don't remind me," he said, finally letting the sarcastic grin fully emerge. "So, you think it'll work, right? I mean, yeah, I know, not tonight. I didn't figure you'd go for that. But still…"

"I don't hate it," Alex admitted. "But let's run through it again."

So we ordered another round and went over the highlights.

Kevin wanted to use himself as bait for Tomlin.

Since we hadn't had another murder and we were woefully short on leads, his plan was for him to go back home.

Because Tomlin wanted him dead.

Of course, there were a lot of other people he wanted dead, too, but he'd already tried to go after Kevin. And the others were still currently under protection.

So we had a feeling that Tomlin was lurking around out there somewhere, keeping an intermittent eye on Kevin's place, assuming he'd have to go back there sooner or later.

Kevin's theory was that he could go back, without his family of course, and Alex and I could keep watch. When Tomlin showed up, we could arrest him.

"That could take a while," Mike pointed out. "What if you go back and nothing happens? How long are they supposed to sit on your house?"

"And what are you going to do in the mean time? Just hang out inside? That'll look suspicious," Carolyn added.

"He's gone for a week now without killing anyone," Kevin said. "I think that if I go home, turn on a bunch of lights and make it obvious that I'm there, it's not going to take long. A day or two at the most. Bobby?"

"I tend to agree," I said with a nod. "He has to be getting anxious by now."

"And he wants you," Alex said to him. "So yeah, I think you're right. But like I said, we need to work out the details. And we need to discuss it with Ross."

"You should send a black and white with him," Mike suggested. "Otherwise he might sniff out the trap."

"That's a good idea," I agreed. "We'll send an officer, but let him make a show out of being distracted."

"He can make a phone call to his wife and get into an argument," Kevin said. "That'll be believable."

He took a sip from his glass and looked down at the table for a minute. He was drinking a Pepsi, which I'd been happy to see him order. Anyone with an addiction, whether it was drugs or alcohol, needed to lay off of both.

"Things aren't going well with Kendra?" Alex asked him.

"It's hard to say," he said on a sigh. "And it's _really_ hard when we're crammed into that little house. I mean, I think we're on the right track, but you can see why I need my life back. I'm on week two of my suspension…my kids are climbing the walls…Kendra's burning through all of her vacation time…"

"She hasn't gone back to work?" Carolyn asked him.

"I asked her not to. I mean, Tomlin knows that she saw his face. What if he tracked her down there?"

"But we've all seen his face now," Alex reminded him. "I doubt that he's still interested in her. It's not a matter of us learning his identity any more. It's just about staying off the radar."

"And she knows that," I said. Because I'd said those exact words to Kendra earlier this week. "She's staying out of work so that she can be there for you. She might still be mad, but she's not going anywhere."

He nodded slowly and then pushed back from the table.

"Okay, so you two are with me? We can iron out the details in the morning and then I can go home?"

"We'll talk to Ross tomorrow," Alex stated. "If he says we're a go, then we'll make the arrangements."

"Thanks," he said, leaning down to kiss his sister on the cheek. "You, too, Bobby," he added, shaking my hand. "I know that you guys have put in a lot of time on this. I owe you. Big."

"Don't worry. We'll find a way to settle up," Alex told him with a smile.

"You're going back to Johnny's, right?" I clarified as Kevin turned away.

"I promise," he said.

"It's actually a pretty good idea," Mike said after Kevin left.

"I hate dangling him in front of a killer, but yeah…it is," Alex agreed.

"Do you think that Ross will go for it? I mean, Kevin is a civilian," Carolyn said.

"And he's not under arrest so he's free to go home if he wants," I pointed out. "Just like Alex and I are free to sit on his house on a Saturday if we want. The only thing he'll really need to approve is the use of a black and white."

"He'll be on board," Mike said firmly.

We wrapped up our discussion and called it a night. We'd already stayed longer than we'd planned due to Kevin's unexpected arrival.

But Alex seemed okay as we made the walk back home.

"He would've made a good cop," I mused quietly as I took hold of her hand.

"Kevin?" she asked, letting out a quick laugh. "No. He's too...I don't know. Not a cop."

"He's brave. He's not afraid to face Tomlin."

"He is brave," she agreed thoughtfully. "That's why he makes a good fireman. I hope the Fire Chief doesn't come down too hard on him."

"He hasn't fired him yet," I remarked. "That's a good sign."

"I hope so."

**

* * *

**

Carolyn POV

"I should call John," Mike said as we walked home. "Maybe the four of us can get together for dinner tomorrow."

"That's a good idea," I said, but then I put my hand on his as he reached for his phone. "But you're not calling him now."

"It's only eight-thirty."

"Uh huh," I agreed. "And Mary left an hour ago. You're not calling him now."

"No one ever minds interrupting us," he grumbled good-naturedly. He settled his arm across my shoulders and he squeezed me to him. "So you really think they're…"

"I'm really trying not to think about it," I replied with a smile.

I figured I could grill Mary for details later.

We headed up to the front porch, each of us slightly hesitant since lately we never knew what we might find there.

"Looks okay," he commented.

We had the front porch lights blazing, lighting up every corner.

"Oh, hey, I left my phone in the car," I told him. "You do your thing and I'm going to grab it."

I'd missed it while we were at Steve-O's, but I figured that anyone who needed me would also know to call Mike if I didn't answer. But I didn't want to be without it all night.

Mike's habit of late was to take the first few minutes upon arriving home to clear the house.

I rarely joined him, even though obviously I was qualified. It seemed like something he took seriously as part of his husbandly duties. I didn't mind the random show of protectiveness.

And I didn't even mind when he, after I mentioned running back to the car, took a moment to cautiously scan the area before giving me a nod.

As though I was awaiting his approval.

Like I said, he was being overprotective and even though I didn't think I needed it, I didn't mind that he wanted to offer it.

It was actually kind of sweet.

So he pulled his gun and went into the house while I trotted back down the sidewalk to the car.

It was right where I'd left it, in the cup holder, hooked up to the cigarette lighter to charge. I put the cord in the console and the phone in my pocket and then closed the door and went back towards the sidewalk.

That was when I noticed the difference.

Not in the landscape or the weather or anything tangible.

There was just something different about the air.

When I was in the Marine Corps, I'd completed a course where I had to fight while blindfolded.

It was about anticipating your opponent's next move rather than seeing it.

Visualizing it in your mind.

I'd seen that type of thing in movies where they glorified it as a whole Zen thing, but it wasn't really like that.

It was about knowing the possibilities of what _could_ happen.

So even though I was still in the relative darkness of the sidewalk and even though it had really only been about a second since the feeling hit me, I was still ready.

I whirled around, raising my arm in defense of the potential pending blow.

It was practically over before it even began.

My forearm swiped his arm out of the way and I followed it up with a hard, stiff hand to his nose. He screamed out in pain and covered his now-bloody nose with his hands, but I grabbed onto one of his wrists and twisted his arm around behind his back until he was awkwardly bent over.

"Get down on the ground!" I yelled.

"Carolyn!" I heard Mike shout from inside of the house.

"Out here!"

"You're hurting me!" the guy yelled as he went down to his knees.

"Good," I retorted, keeping pressure on his wrist until he complied and went completely down to the ground. I jammed one knee into his back and maintained my hold on his wrist as I reached around beneath my jacket for my handcuffs.

"Carolyn!" Mike called out again as he ran out onto the porch.

"I'm fine," I told him as I snapped the cuffs into place.

"Are you sure?"

I took a deep breath and finally brought my eyes up to meet his gaze. He still had his gun out and his eyes were wild with panic.

"I'm sure," I said as I got to my feet. "But Lonnie here is another story."

It was Lonnie Evans, the youngest of Chesley's boys.

I started to pull Lonnie up, but Mike stepped up and grabbed him by the arms, jerking him to his feet before cramming the nose of his weapon under his chin.

"What the hell are you doing here, Lonnie? And you'd better talk fast."

"Mike…"

"I wasn't…I…I just..."

And then he fell silent. Well, not really silent because he was doing quite a bit of sniffling, but he couldn't seem to form any more words.

"You think I won't shoot you?" Mike warned in a low, threatening tone. "You came to my house. You attacked my wife. I have every reason in the world to drop you where you stand. I'm sure your mama told you about me. I'm the cop who killed a cop, right? And you have to know that if I'll kill one of my own, then I have no problem whatsoever taking out a little punk murderer like you."

"Mike," I said again, only this time with a little more concern. I couldn't decide if his fear at what could have happened to me had caused him to lose the handle on his control.

He flashed his eyes toward mine briefly before shifting them back to Lonnie. But that had been enough. That split second told me that he had his wits about him. He was merely using the scare tactic to get the boy to talk. Whatever his reason for coming here, we couldn't waste the opportunity of being able to speak to him alone.

At that thought, I did a quick scan of the area, but I didn't see anyone. And surely if someone was here with Lonnie, they would've come to try to help him after I took him down to the ground.

"I'm going to count to five," Mike said firmly.

"Wait! I didn't…I wanted…I need…"

And then he _did _break down.

Tears began streaming down his face and his nose was still spouting blood and as I looked at him I suddenly saw him for what he was.

A frightened, misguided kid.

He was fourteen years old.

Mike must have seen it at the same time because as Lonnie started sobbing, Mike eased the gun away from under his chin and put it in its holster.

He shifted his gaze to me again and silently asked me what we should do with him.

There wasn't a lot of precedent for what to do when an underage murder suspect showed up at the investigating officers' home, but we were going to have to come up with something.

Because I wasn't about to call Chesley Watkins, and I wasn't going to let him go anywhere until I heard his story.

TBC...


	63. Chapter 63

**Ross POV**

* * *

Never let it be said that I don't know how to improvise.

There may have been a time when I didn't realize that life existed outside of the box, but that time has passed.

Now, I practically live outside of the box.

So when I heard Lupo asking for the ID of the victim and then watched his face as he listened to the caller's reply, well…my mind was already working to come up with an alternate plan.

Because I could anticipate the next words to come out of his mouth, and I wasn't wrong.

"You may need to pull me from this case, Chief," he said.

"What's going on?" Bernard questioned.

"Why, Detective?" I asked.

But Lupo turned and looked at Connie as he answered.

"The victim is Lee Gingrich," he said, reaching out to take Connie's hand. "He and Connie have a…history. And earlier this week, I…sort of…threatened to kill him."

I didn't ask what kind of history. And I didn't ask the cause of the animosity between him and our latest victim.

Instead, I made a command decision.

"Okay," I said with a nod. "Lupo, you're off. Hayes…how do you feel about working with Bernard on this case?"

"Um…yeah, okay," she managed.

"I just don't want to start from scratch," I explained, even though I didn't have to.

I didn't want to be one of those bosses who just barked out orders and expected people to follow blindly.

They _would_ follow blindly, when the time came, as long as I showed them respect when it _wasn't_ a crisis.

And this had the potential to be a bad situation, but I hoped that this maneuver might nip it in the bud.

"Bernard knows the case, so he can bring you up to speed," I said to Hayes. "Lupo, you work with Eames to try to finish out the Tomlin case."

"Yes sir," Lupo replied. "Thank you."

"Thank you for being up front about it."

Bernard and Hayes got up from the table.

"You know we'll be around to talk to you," Bernard said to Lupo apologetically.

"I know. You know where to find me."

"Lupo, you need to stay at arm's length on this one," I reminded him. "I don't want some slick-talking defense attorney to say that our evidence is tainted because another suspect is one of our own."

"I understand," he agreed.

"Wait, he's a suspect?" Connie asked. "But he's _here_."

"I'll pin down the time of death," Liz assured her. "Obviously if it was in the past few hours, then we can all provide an alibi."

"I've been with him all day," Bernard said firmly.

"Settle down," I stated calmly. "Once we're sure about the TOD then surely we'll be able to rule Lupo out. But as far as the investigation goes, I don't want it damaged. Hayes and Bernard will work the case through to the end. I'll let Van Buren know."

The four of us left McNally's, leaving Lupo and Connie behind, along with Sean and his wife.

I was pretty sure that there were no hard feelings, but I still hated to make the switch.

But before I could doubt myself further, my phone rang.

"You drive," I told Liz, handing her the keys as I pulled out my phone. Bernard and Hayes were climbing into another department SUV so that they could drive separately to the scene.

"Chief Ross," I answered.

It was the captain from the fifth precinct.

"Sir, we've got a dead firefighter down here near Battery Park. Isn't that an open Major Case?"

"Stab wounds to the back?" I asked him as I held back a frustrated sigh.

"Um…not exactly. More like stab wounds to the entire body. Somebody went ape-shit on this guy. You want to send your guys down here, or should I assign my people?"

"No, I'll send mine. Thanks for the heads-up. If we find out it's not our guy then we'll toss it back to you."

So I hung up with the captain and dialed Bobby.

"We might have another one," I told him when he answered.

"What? Where?"

"Near Battery Park. Only this one sounds worse. It might not be Tomlin."

"Worse how?"

"Extensive stab wounds."

"You mean like the work of someone extremely ticked off that we've been hiding all of his potential victims?"

"Yeah," I agreed. I'd been thinking that, but didn't want to say it out loud.

"Okay. We'll head down there now."

"Keep me posted," I told him. "Oh, and Eames is going to be working with Lupo for awhile. I swapped him and Hayes."

I hung up with him and found Liz watching me as we sat still at a red light.

"That was the right thing to do, right? Switching Lupo and Hayes?"

"It makes sense," she agreed. "Although, you did let Alex stay on the case of her own brother. And Sean, too, for that matter."

"But this is different. What if you look at this body and the TOD is late last night? What if Lupo has no alibi for that time and yet I let him loose on the crime scene?"

"Good point," she said. "You're exactly right. I guess that's why they pay you the big bucks, huh?"

I smiled gratefully at her and leaned my head back against the seat.

It wasn't enough to have one body tonight. We had to have two.

As soon as that thought cleared my brain, my phone began to ring again.

"It's Logan," I muttered after looking at the display. "If there's been another home invasion…"

We were fast approaching Central Park, so I couldn't stall any longer. I answered my phone and braced for the worst.

"Chief, the suspect came to our house. He wants to talk."

"A confession?"

"I don't know. But I'm not sure what to do with him. He's fourteen. And Carolyn broke his nose."

"Where is he right now?" I asked, feeling the migraine setting in.

"She took him into the kitchen to clean up the blood and get him an ice pack. He's scared to death, boss. He begged us not to send him back to his foster mom."

"Call Child Services," I said. "Tell them the situation and they can appoint a temporary guardian to act as a custodial parent."

"Can we do it here? I don't want to drag this kid to the precinct."

"Are you going soft on me, Mike? Didn't this kid bludgeon to death two entire families?"

"Maybe. I mean, yeah, I think he was there, but I don't think it was by choice. He's too…nice."

"Don't underestimate him. You've let him into your home. What if he's taking the opportunity to case the place?"

I was met with silence for a moment as Mike thought about my question.

I hadn't meant to make him paranoid, but I also didn't want him to let down his guard.

Being fourteen didn't rule the boy out as a murderer.

I'd seen younger.

"I don't think so, boss," he said. "He's genuinely upset. He's been trying to talk about what's been going on at his house but we stopped him because we didn't want any of his statements to be excluded due to his age."

"Good thinking. Yeah, call Child Services and tell them you need someone out there immediately. And whatever you do, don't let the boy go back to her house. If he _is_ going to roll on Watkins, you know she'll try to kill him."

"Yes sir."

"Wow, exciting night, huh?" Liz commented after I hung up with Mike.

"If you want to call it that."

It was Friday night. It was supposed to be hard-earned downtime for everyone and yet we were all still hard at it.

Even Alex, who was only one week post-surgery.

I was going to have to make sure to keep them out of the rotation for a few days, even after they finished the Tomlin case.

I couldn't take advantage of their uncanny ability to catch the bad guys at the risk of burning them out.

"Well, actually I _do_ have a different definition of excitement," she said as she cut off the engine. She turned to me and carefully looked me up and down. "But I suppose we both have work to do first."

"There's always later," I said hopefully.

"Later. It's a date."

**

* * *

**

**Bernard POV**

I drove to Central Park Zoo on autopilot.

I gave Hayes a brief rundown on the case and then I fell quiet.

Despite having her beside me, which would normally have kept my focus, I couldn't stop thinking about this Gingrich character.

Lupo hadn't mentioned him.

And yet he'd threatened him?

And now the guy was dead.

Obviously I knew Lupo hadn't done anything, but I really hoped that Liz nailed down that TOD to a time when I could alibi him.

I mean, we'd been interviewing people all day long so there hadn't been much time unaccounted for.

_Except the hour at lunch_, I reminded myself.

Because yeah, my partner would have left 1PP, found Gingrich, killed him, dumped him at the zoo, and then come back to 1PP without breaking a sweat.

Although he _did_ look like he'd showered during lunch.

But still, that made the timeline even more impossible. I really hoped that it didn't come down to the analysis of how long a trip like that would take because if it did then whenever we caught the real killer his defense attorney would bring to light the fact that it could have been done by someone else.

Someone who had threatened him.

"Are you okay?" Hayes asked me.

"Yeah," I replied, casting a sideways glance at her. She was pulling her hair up into a ponytail and I suddenly forgot about everything else as I watched her put in the hairband.

It was a damn good thing that I'd just parked the car or I might have rolled right over someone.

She caught me looking, and she gave me a smile.

"Practicality," she said with a shrug. "I only put it down earlier because…well, you'd mentioned it, and…"

"You put it down for me?" I asked, unable to hide my surprise.

"You said something about the idea that people would probably still know I'm a woman, even when I wear it up."

"Yeah…"

"Well, I wanted to make sure."

After her ambiguous statement, she clipped her badge onto the lapel of her jacket and got out of the car.

Maybe being partners with her wasn't such a good idea. I'd been consumed by thoughts of my real partner and then one glance at her had vanquished him from my mind.

And what had she meant by that? She wanted to make sure that _I _knew she was a woman? I certainly didn't need any more proof of that.

But then I had another thought. Why did she care what I thought?

Was she…_flirting_ with me?

No.

I mean, no in general, but also no because we were working.

Well, actually we'd been in the car. _Now_ we were working.

_So…_

"Bernard!" she called out to me. I was still standing on the outside of the reptile house. The crime scene was inside.

And not only was I mentally distracted, but I hate snakes.

"What is it?"

"Aren't you coming?"

"Excuse me," I said to the officer standing outside of the entrance. "Have all of the…reptiles been properly caged and accounted for?"

"Afraid of snakes, Detective?" he asked with a smirk.

"No," I lied. And then I huffed out an annoyed sigh and bit the bullet. "Fine."

I entered the habitat and went down a flight of stairs to where Hayes had actually climbed into one of the areas.

"Check it out," she told me as she pointed at the body. "Strangulation marks."

"So it's not a coincidence," I muttered, getting my head back into the game.

"Two dead ADA's, both strangled and left in Central Park Zoo? I don't think so," she agreed. "But that's good for Lupo, right? I mean, he didn't even know the other guy."

"It's good, but it'll be better when the doc gets here and says he's only a few hours dead."

"Well…" Hayes began as she poked at the victim's arm. "I'd say he's going into rigor."

"Damn," I said as I checked my watch. "It's almost ten o'clock."

"So maybe between nine and one?" she posed.

"And the body sat in here all that time without anyone seeing it?"

"I don't know. I'm just saying...he looks like he's been dead for awhile."

"Children," Liz said loudly as she entered the room. "Leave the heavy lifting for the professionals, will you?"

"Gladly," Hayes said as she moved around to the far side of the body. I was still standing outside of the caged area, but Liz climbed right in.

"You're not coming in, Detective?" she asked me. "You're not afraid of snakes, are you? I'm sure they already removed the one living in here."

"He's checking out the perimeter," Hayes said quickly, without a hint of teasing. As if I needed another reason to like her.

"Where's the Chief?" I asked.

"He's on another phone call. Apparently tonight's the night for killing."

She opened up her bag and got to work doing a precursory exam on the body.

"What's the verdict?" Hayes asked her.

"Eleven and one," she said. "I'd say this gives new meaning to the term nooner."

TBC...


	64. Chapter 64

**Connie POV**

* * *

I sat calmly as Ross told Lupo that he was pulling him off the case.

And maybe calm isn't the best descriptive.

Calm on the _outside_.

On the inside, I was flooded with emotion.

And the predominant emotion was anger.

So as soon as most everyone left and it was down to just the four of us, I excused myself and got up from the table, heading for the front door.

"Connie, wait," Lupo called out to me.

But I didn't wait. Instead I flung the door open and went down the sidewalk with a full head of steam.

"Connie!"

In my emotional state, I plowed right into another pedestrian.

"Watch where you're going, lady!" the man yelled at me.

I staggered backwards a step from the impact, and then the man reached towards me. I thought for a second that he was going to push me or something, but he didn't get the chance because suddenly Lupo was all over him.

He grabbed the man by his jacket and shoved him against the wall.

"What's your problem?"

"You need to back off," Lupo said angrily.

"Hey, man, she ran into me, okay?"

"You were getting ready to accost her!" Lupo accused.

"Lupo…" I interrupted.

"I thought she was going to _fall_," he shot back. "I was going to grab her arm to keep her from going down."

"Let him go," I said firmly. "I'm fine."

Lupo continued to glare at him for a moment longer and then he reluctantly stepped back and let him go.

"What is the matter with you?" I asked him harshly.

"What's wrong with _me_? You're the one who walked out. I asked you to wait for me. It's not safe for you to be walking alone. What if your mystery caller is out here somewhere?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head in annoyance.

"So I'm not ever allowed to walk down the street by myself? Come on, Lupo. I'm not going to live like that."

"You didn't need to go by yourself. If you would've just waited…"

"I didn't want to wait for you, okay? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a little bit upset right now."

"Upset? Because Gingrich is dead?"

"I'm upset because you lied to me! You promised me that you wouldn't approach him. It hasn't even been a week and now I find out, completely by chance, that you threatened him!"

"I was going to tell you. And I didn't lie. You don't know what happened."

"No, I don't because you didn't tell me," I fired back. And of course, we were still out on the sidewalk and people were passing by, casting cautious glances at us. "You know what? I'm not doing this right now."

"Connie, can we talk about this please? Let me tell you what happened."

"You only want to tell me now because you got caught."

"I…maybe. But it's not because I thought I was doing something wrong. It's just because I didn't want to bring up his name to you. I was trying to _protect_ you."

"You're always trying to protect me!" I yelled. "From Gingrich, from crazy defendants, from shadowy figures lurking on the sidewalks…come on, Lupo. You can't protect me from everything!"

He opened his mouth, but then he closed it again and ran his hand over his face. I watched him as he fought with himself for words and his face clouded over with emotion.

"Then maybe we shouldn't be together anymore."

It was the last thing I'd expected him to say.

I mean, this was a fight.

It wasn't the end of our relationship.

_Or so I'd thought_.

Maybe I'd been a little too secure.

Maybe he didn't love me as much as I thought.

I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up.

_Was this it? _

Was this going to be the end of us, out here on the sidewalk in front of McNally's?

I couldn't breathe from the fear of that possibility.

"You're saying…you don't…you don't want to be with me?"

And as much as I hated it, tears filled my eyes as I said the words. I hated feeling weak, hated _sounding_ weak, and yet I did.

"No," he said quickly, taking a step closer to me. "I'm saying that I don't ever want to be _without_ you."

"What?" I asked, now completely confused.

"Don't you get it? It's my nature to try to protect," he explained quietly. I had my arms crossed over my chest, and he reached out to settle one hand on my forearm. "And I've always failed the ones I love. I can't let that happen with you."

Anyone who tries to say that men aren't complicated clearly never met any of the men that I know. Bobby, Mike, Lupo…there were layers to them that very few people ever understood.

But I was determined to get through all of Lupo's.

Not only that, but I realized that I'd let my temper get the best of me.

I'd gotten mad at him without giving him a chance to explain.

And then I'd stormed off when _I'd_ promised _him_ that I wouldn't walk alone on the streets right now, especially at night.

I closed my eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"Don't ever think that I don't want to be with you," he continued, sliding his hands around my waist. I let him pull me to him, and then I turned my head to rest my cheek against shoulder. "All I meant is that…is that I _have_ to try to protect you. And if you're not okay with that…if you feel like I'm smothering you or…or…whatever then tell me now because I don't think I can ever stop."

"Lupo!"

It was Sean, and I looked over Lupo's shoulder to see that he and Alicia had come out onto the sidewalk.

"What is it?" Lupo called back, loosening his hold on me enough so that he could turn around, but not letting go completely.

"We've got to go! Bobby just called. There's another one."

Lupo sighed heavily, dropping his gaze for a moment before looking back at me.

"I'm sorry. I've got to go," he said quietly.

"It's okay."

"It's not," he argued lightly. "And I'm sorry about…all of this."

"Go," I encouraged. "We'll talk later."

"If this is another firefighter…I don't know when I'll get home."

"It doesn't matter," I assured him. "I'll be there."

**

* * *

**

Lupo POV

I couldn't think straight after the incident with Connie.

I got into Sean's car and stared blankly out the window while he ran down what we knew, which was very little.

"It's a firefighter," he said. "And it looks like overkill this time. He's getting pissed. I'm betting he made a mistake. He's going to leave a trail."

"Uh huh," I agreed.

"I wonder what he used this time. Do you think he got another pry axe? Because we've got his in evidence lock-up."

"Probably."

"Lupo…"

"Yeah?"

"Is everything okay? This Gingrich guy…"

"Everything's fine," I lied.

But it wasn't. And damn it, that really pissed me off.

I _hadn't_ broken my promise to Connie.

I'd said that I wouldn't approach him. And I hadn't.

The asshole had come to me.

I'd been on my way in to 1PP Wednesday morning.

"_Detective Lupo!"_ a man called out.

I'd looked up to see a guy standing across the street. He was dressed in a black suit and a crisp white shirt with a red tie. His black hair was slicked back and he wore dark sunglasses.

I would've guessed a G-man if it weren't for the briefcase.

"_Got a minute?"_ he asked as he crossed the street. I shrugged and he held out his hand and introduced himself. _"Lee Gingrich_."

I think it's a testament to my self-control that I didn't pull out my gun right then and there.

"_What do you want?"_ I asked sharply.

"_Oh, so you _do_ know who I am. When I heard that Detective Logan was asking about me, and then I found out _her_ fiancé worked in Major Case, too, well…let's just say that I would've made a damn good detective."_

"_Doubtful,"_ I retorted.

"_What is it that you want to know?"_ he asked me with a smug grin.

"_I don't want to know anything."_

"_You had a friend find out if I was still on Staten Island. Why?"_

"_Curiosity."_

"_Uh huh. Well, you know what they say about that."_

"_Are you threatening me?"_ I asked him, taking a step closer. And yeah, it was a stretch, but I really didn't need much provocation. I was one wrong remark away from beating this guy to a pulp.

"_You'd like that, wouldn't you? Boy, Connie really took a step backwards with you, didn't she? She used to like class but I guess now she just likes…well, I'm not really sure."_

I hated to admit it, but the guy was astute. He'd certainly found my Achilles' heel with no problem.

"_I think it's time you went back to the island,"_ I told him through gritted teeth. I didn't even like him saying her name.

"_Not yet. I've got some business to attend to,"_ he said. "_At the DA's office."_

"_Stay away from Connie,"_ I warned him.

"_We're colleagues,"_ he replied with a grin. _"We're the same, she and I."_

"_I'm warning you, Gingrich. Leave her alone."_

"_Or what? You'll arrest me? Please. You think I wouldn't flip that around on you in a heartbeat? I'm very good at what I do, Detective."_

I took another step closer, enjoying the fact that I had him by about an inch.

"_I won't waste my time arresting you,"_ I threatened. _"And believe me. No one will ever find the body." _

It had taken him a moment to gather his wits about him and attempt to laugh it off.

He eased a step backwards to create some distance between us and then said, _"I'll see you around, Detective."_

"_I hope not. For your sake."_

He'd left, and I'd been happy to see that he didn't go in the direction of the DA's office.

But I couldn't shake the feeling of inadequacy that just that one little conversation had sparked.

_This_ was the kind of guy she liked.

So what could she possibly see in me?

Our case of the dead ADA in the sea lion habitat had forced me to focus back on the work instead of on my own insecurities and by the end of the day I'd been feeling better about the whole thing.

At least I'd been able to convey my warning.

But then he'd been murdered.

Not a big surprise if he treated all women the way that he'd treated Connie, but still…there was more to this case since it happened three days after the other ADA's murder.

But the real bitch of it was that I hadn't gotten around to telling Connie about my conversation with Gingrich.

I'd decided it was better to just leave it alone instead of rehashing bad memories for her.

_Look how well that turned out_.

And then I'd had to go and yell at her. And nearly assault an innocent bystander.

And she actually thought that I'd want to leave her?

With the way I'd been acting lately, I'd be lucky if she didn't throw that ring back in my face.

"I guess it's over there," Sean stated, pulling the car alongside of the street. It wasn't actually in Battery Park, but slightly north in the Irish Hunger Memorial.

"He caught him in the tunnel?" I asked rhetorically as we got out of the car. The scene was cordoned off and there were half a dozen officers keeping curious onlookers behind the yellow tape.

"This doesn't sound like Tomlin," Sean stated as we badged the beat cops and ducked under the tape. "It's not the middle of the night, it's not a drug dealer's paradise…"

"And it's not a pry axe," Alex finished for him. She was standing over the body while Bobby was crouched down next to it. The whole area inside of the tunnel was a bloody mess. There had been quite the scuffle.

"This guy didn't go down willingly, either," Bobby remarked as he stood up. "He's got defensive wounds on his hands and arms."

"So the only connection is that this guy is a firefighter?"

"And this," Alex said, holding up an evidence bag. "It was on the body."

Inside was a scrap of notebook paper. The words appeared hastily written as though it had been a last minute thought.

_**You can't hide them forever**_.

"He didn't have this ready," I commented. "He wrote it after the murder."

"Uh huh," Bobby agreed. "I don't think he anticipated the fight. He had to know that we'd wonder whether or not it was him. He wanted to take the guesswork out of it."

"So what now?"

"Now we put Kevin's plan into effect. It'll work," Alex said.

"Kevin's plan? What's that?"

"He's going back to his house. He's going to set himself up as bait."

"For this nut job?" Sean argued with concern. I watched him as his eyes scanned the bloody stone walls of the tunnel.

"I know," Alex said with understanding. "It worries me, too. But we'll be there to make sure nothing happens to him."

I glanced down at the mutilated corpse at our feet, and I hoped like hell that she was right.

TBC...


	65. Chapter 65

**Alex POV**

* * *

We got to Ross' office at eight o'clock Saturday morning.

I was working off of about two hours of sleep that I'd managed to grab while sitting on the couch. My mood might not be indicative of that, but my brain felt a little sluggish and my head was buzzing from too much caffeine.

Bobby and I had spent most of the night working the latest evidence, along with Sean and Lupo.

Our latest victim was Simon Nessman.

He was not on our watch list.

He did not do drugs, according to his wife.

Although I guess that didn't mean much. Kendra would've sworn the same thing about Kevin, too.

I guess no one really knows until you _know_.

Nessman drove a 2006 Chevy Lumina which was nowhere to be found. I had a pretty good guess as to who was presently driving it. We'd put out an APB covering the tri-state area but so far it hadn't been seen.

Bobby and I had gone home at four-thirty, but we'd both been too wired to sleep.

Instead, we'd left the apartment dark, changed out of our work clothes, and then just sat down on the couch together.

At some point, I'd drifted off only to be awakened by the ringing of the phone.

"What time are we meeting Ross?" Kevin said when I answered.

"What time is it?" I'd asked him.

"Did I wake you up? It's seven."

"On Saturday. And we were out until four-thirty."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Wait, out?"

"Yeah."

"Shit," he muttered. "Who is it?"

"Simon Nessman. Do you know him?"

"No," he replied quietly. "This is crazy. Alex, we _need_ to do this. You have to convince Ross…"

"I know. We're with you on this," I agreed, forcing my brain into action. "Meet us there in an hour."

I hung up with him and dragged myself into the kitchen where I got a pot of coffee brewing.

Bobby had slept through my phone call, so once the coffee was going, I went back into the living room and leaned down to kiss him.

He stirred slightly, but didn't open his eyes, so I kissed him again, this time rubbing my hand along his cheek.

I noticed the change in his breathing, but his eyes were still closed.

"You're faking now," I said quietly, unable to stop the smile.

"I was wondering how many I'd get before you called me out," he said, finally opening his eyes to look at me. "Only two, huh? You're being stingy this morning."

"We have to be at 1PP in an hour," I told him. "There's not a lot of time for fooling around."

He reached one hand out to idly play with the string on my sweatpants.

"If you give me one more, I'll fix us something to eat while you take a shower."

"Negotiating, are you?" I asked. It always amazed me how he could be sweet and playful while working on so little sleep. "What do I get if I give you two more?"

"Anything you want," he said suggestively, his sleepy tone wreaking havoc on my system.

"How about we skip breakfast and you take a shower with me?"

"Practical and time-efficient," he replied. "I like it."

He tugged on my string, pulling me towards him, so I kissed him again.

We hadn't had nearly enough us time lately. I mean, we'd had _some_, but just not enough.

Maybe it was because I'd been recovering and things took longer and we had to be more careful which meant less spontaneous…I don't know.

But I suddenly, desperately wanted him.

"Come on. We're not wasting time on foreplay," I said, grabbing onto his hand and helping him up from the couch.

"Not wasting…." he repeated in mock-confusion. "Can I get that in writing?"

I chuckled at him as I led him down the hall. He was going to pretend to not like foreplay? That could be his middle name.

"We need to leave in twenty-five minutes," I reminded him. "And I'll need half of that to get myself presentable. That leaves you with twelve minutes and thirty seconds."

"Well, as long as we're not keeping track."

We quickly undressed and got into the shower before the water had sufficient time to warm up, but that didn't matter.

Bobby had my skin on fire in a matter of seconds.

He was at once careful and intense, gentle and passionate.

Only Bobby could make me completely forget about my injuries while never once letting them slip from his own mind.

The shower was rejuvenating in more ways than one. But it took us nearly twenty minutes instead of twelve and a half, so then we had to scramble to get dressed and get out of the apartment.

"Here," Bobby said as I drove us through mid-town traffic. I glanced down and saw that he was holding out a banana, waiting for me to take a bite. "You can't go without breakfast."

"Do you know how many times in my life I've gone without breakfast?" I said with amusement, although I leaned over and bit off a good portion of the piece of fruit

"Not on my watch, honey," he answered.

I couldn't exactly eat and drive since I was already down to one hand, but that didn't stop him from feeding me.

We alternated bites and made short work of the banana and when that was gone he pulled a muffin from his coat pocket.

"What else do you have in there?" I teased.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he joked back.

I loved that he was in a playful mood. It really helped, considering the day we were about to have. There'd been quite a few cases over the years where seeing this side of him would've made my life a whole lot better, but I was just grateful that I got to see it now.

We polished off the muffin and then he brushed the crumbs from my blouse as I maneuvered through the heavy morning traffic.

And I'm going to credit my skillful driving for the fact that we still made it on time.

Ross' office.

Eight o'clock.

Sean and Lupo were already there, each looking equally exhausted. Kevin was there, too, and even though he hadn't been out all night with us, he looked as bad as we did.

This case was definitely taking its toll on him.

"Okay, bring me up to speed," Ross said when after we'd entered his office and found a seat.

**

* * *

**

Kevin POV

It didn't take any convincing to get Ross on board with the plan.

I was going to go back to my house.

Alex and Bobby were going to go ahead of time and find a spot to keep watch, and then they were going to have a black and white drive me home.

The officer would be instructed to be less than vigilant, but I knew that Alex would be watching. She and Bobby would alternate with Sean and Lupo and hopefully, eventually, Tomlin would come after me.

And when he did, they'd be there to catch him.

I'd mapped out my plan to Kendra yesterday evening. I'd wanted her to know about it ahead of time, before I went to Alex and Bobby.

I couldn't afford to keep secrets from her anymore and honestly, I didn't want to.

It was exhausting trying to maintain a lie and it was pointless.

I loved her.

There was simply no reason for me to keep things from her.

"It's dangerous," she'd stated, although to her credit, she sounded rational. We were in my parents' den, sitting together on the couch. Not touching, but close.

"Yes," I agreed. "But it's the best way."

"Let me go home with you."

"No," I said quickly. "Absolutely not."

"Kevin, I'm not afraid of him," she'd replied as she turned to look at me. And looking into her eyes, I could see that she wasn't.

She was angry and frustrated, but not scared.

I felt the emotion well up in me and I had the overwhelming urge to touch her.

I'd felt so disconnected from her lately, even after her assertion that she wanted to make things work. Saying that she was willing to try didn't make things magically better.

It was still going to take time for me to regain her trust.

For us to find our rhythm again.

But after being her partner in life for twenty-two years, suddenly _not_ having that connection of intimacy was akin to losing a limb.

I literally didn't feel whole.

And I'm not talking about sex. Just closeness.

"I'm afraid _for_ you," I told her, scooting across the couch until I was close enough to reach out and rest my hand on her stomach. "I'm afraid for both of you."

She wasn't far enough along yet to be showing. In fact, she wouldn't be for awhile yet, but still…I would swear I could feel the life inside of her.

_And look how close I'd come to screwing it all up_.

She surprised me by putting her hand on mine and saying, "You're right. I wasn't thinking…I just…I want to be there for you. I don't want you to do this alone."

"I won't be alone. I'll have someone watching me the whole time."

Then she surprised me even more when she brought her eyes back to mine and I saw that they were filled with tears.

"I'm tired of being mad at you," she said softly. "I'm tired of our life being a mess. And I miss you. I miss us."

She moved her hand up to my face, rubbing her thumb back and forth along my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch.

"Me, too."

I opened my eyes when she brought her other hand up to my face, too, and then slowly, oh so slowly, she leaned in to kiss me.

It was the first time in almost two weeks and we let it go on for quite some time.

Sometimes a kiss could say more than words and this was one of those times.

A short time later, I left the house in search of Bobby and Alex. I'd found them at McNally's and to my astonishment, they were willing to discuss my plan with Ross. I'd thought that it would take a little more convincing, but they were on board.

When I got back to my parents' home, it was after eleven. I'd driven aimlessly around the city for awhile after I'd spoken with Alex.

I needed to clear my head.

The house was quiet and mostly dark. My two oldest kids were on sleepovers tonight and the younger two had been driven back to my sister-in-law's.

I went into the kitchen to grab a snack. My mom had baked cookies earlier, so I snagged a handful of them before heading downstairs to the den.

"Did you bring enough for two?"

"I thought you'd be in bed," I answered, surprised to see my wife still sitting on the couch.

"I am. I thought I'd sleep down here with you tonight. If that's okay."

"It is so much more than okay."

Together we ate the half-dozen chocolate chip cookies and then I went back upstairs to get the rest of them.

"Your mom is going to be mad," Kendra said with a smile as I held up my arm to her. She moved over next to me and I settled my arm around her shoulders. We had the plate of cookies on my lap.

"Well, you are eating for two."

"Two what?" she replied. And then she started to laugh and added, "Two sumo wrestlers?"

"I can't remember the last time I heard you laugh," I said on a sigh. "It has to be the best sound in the world."

She was quiet and I was afraid that maybe I'd somehow ruined the moment, but then she'd picked up the plate and moved it to the coffee table before reclaiming her position against my chest. She slid her hand around my waist, holding me closer.

"I think we're both long overdue for some laughs."

"I'm sorry. I can't say it enough."

"Yes, you can," she argued lightly. "And you have. So don't be sorry anymore. Just love me, okay? Love me and tell me the truth. Always."

We'd slept together on the couch. It wasn't nearly big enough for the two of us and I don't think I dozed off for more than a couple of hours, but I didn't care.

I'd gotten to hold my wife again, all night.

And this morning, sitting in Ross' office, all I could think about was that feeling, and how if I could just lure Tomlin in…if he would just come after me, then soon enough I'd be able to sleep in my own bed again.

With my wife.

And my kids, who up to this point thought this whole incident was like one long, exciting adventure, would once again have some normalcy.

So I was thrilled when Ross easily agreed to the plan.

"We're going over there now," Alex told me after we got back to the squad room. Bobby had gone to find an officer who would be the one to drive me home. "Don't look for us when you get out of the car. I'm not sure yet where we'll be, but we'll make sure that we have a clear view of your home. When you get there, turn on the lights, open the blinds…make it obvious that you're there."

"I thought maybe I'd go out and do some work in the garage," I told her. "You know, maybe change the oil on the car or something. I can leave the door open."

"That's a good idea," Sean said. "From what we've seen, he hasn't actually broken into anyone's home. I think he only goes there after he's killed them."

"Well, Bradley," Lupo reminded him. "But he must have let him in because there was no forced entry."

"Right," Alex agreed. "So yeah, the garage is a good idea. Make yourself an easy target."

"Do we think he's going to be interested in killing again this soon?" I asked them.

"Yes," Lupo answered definitively.

"Yeah," Sean added with a nod. "Kev, be careful, okay? This guy is _pissed_. So don't try to be the hero, okay? When Tomlin shows and we come in to get him, just stay out of the way and let us do our jobs."

"I got it," I agreed. "Hey, what can happen, right? I'll have my little sister watching on one shift, and my little brother on the other. I'd say that the Eameses are going to kick some Tomlin ass today."

I tried to exude confidence, but I was a little worried. What if he didn't come today? Or tomorrow? Or even next week?

How long would we be allowed to keep this up?

"Kevin, this is Officer Daner," Bobby said, coming back into the squad room with a uniformed cop. "He's going to drive you home and park outside, but then he's going to make phone calls and take smoke breaks, right Officer?"

"Whatever you say, Detective."

A little more than twenty minutes later, I was alone in the squad room with the officer. Alex and Bobby had gone ahead to my house. Lupo and Sean were going to the morgue to get the results from the latest victim.

"Are you about ready? Detective Goren said to give them a half-hour head start, and I want to grab some coffee on the way out."

We made the drive from Manhattan over into Floral Park. I hadn't been home in what felt like forever and I was anxious to get there.

"So, you're good?" the cop asked me as he parked near my house.

"Yeah," I replied vaguely. I was already focused on my front door. I didn't say anything else, but simply got out of the car and walked across the street and down the sidewalk to my home.

My adrenaline was racing, but I was used to that feeling. Firefighters get that rush all of the time. The trick was being able to harness it and use it to get you through the crisis situation. I was pretty good at that.

Why did I ever think that I needed drugs to make my life better?

I shook my head in annoyance and unlocked the door and went inside.

Once inside, I pushed the door closed and then I took off my coat.

That was when I saw it.

There were several drops of blood on the foyer floor.

I ran the toe of my shoe over the blood. It smeared.

My heart began to pound as I realized what was going on.

Tomlin was using my house as his hideout.

Why hadn't we thought of that?

_Because he'd only been using the homes of people he'd killed, not those of the people on his list_, I reminded myself.

But this is what we wanted, right?

He's _here_.

The blood is fairly fresh.

He _has_ to be here.

Bobby and Alex were right outside. I could open up the door and wave to them and I had no doubt that they'd be here in a matter of seconds.

Or I could go on into the house.

Because this guy had killed my brethren.

He'd come after me.

He'd come after _Kendra_.

I owed him.

And I wasn't a coward.

Getting my life back was my responsibility.

And this was the first step.

So I hung my coat on the rack and went on into the house.

TBC...


	66. Chapter 66

**Logan POV**

* * *

We were finally going to get her.

I couldn't believe our luck.

We'd stayed up half the night with Lonnie and his temporary-appointed guardian.

"She put us in the school so that we could make friends with the rich kids," he told us. "She was more worried about that than our education."

"Did she direct you towards anyone in particular?"

"No. She just said that rich kids have rich friends."

"Why?" Carolyn asked him. "Why did she care if you had rich friends?"

"Because they have the expensive stuff," he admitted.

"And she wanted you to steal it," I stated.

"Yes."

"She told you that?" the Child Services guy asked.

I caught his eye across the kitchen table and shook my head.

His name was Rolando and had volunteered for the temporary custody duty.

He seemed nice enough, but I didn't need him interrupting our interrogation.

He was here to make sure we didn't steamroll Lonnie, not to guide the direction of the questions.

"Yes," Lonnie said, answering the question anyway. "She said that those people had too much and that it was only fair to spread the wealth."

"But why did they have to die?" Carolyn asked. "Robbing a house is one thing, but the murders…"

And that was when he'd started crying again.

"Detectives, it's late. And Lonnie is upset and there's the matter of his nose…"

"We need to get his full statement," I said.

"And you will. But not tonight."

"No, I can finish," Lonnie argued. He turned back to me and said, "Willie knew Antonio. They lived in the same group home when Willie was ten. Antonio kept in touch with him. He'd told him all about what he was doing for Mama."

Antonio Mattini had been one of our original suspects. One of Chesley's boys. He'd been killed while in police custody. We were pretty sure it was at her behest, but we weren't able to prove it.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He said that they'd go into the houses with machetes. They'd kill the parents first and then the kids. The boys would always be last. They'd make them give up their friends."

"And then?"

"And then they'd send Mama pictures from their cell phones of some of the things in the house. She'd tell them what to take."

"Do you know what she did with the items?"

"No."

"Whose idea was it to start up again? If Willie knew about what the boys in that house used to do…did he suggest it? Or was it Ms. Watkins?"

"He asked her one time how come she wasn't rich when she'd stolen all of that stuff."

That remark had probably gone over really well.

"And what did she tell him?" Carolyn questioned.

"She asked him if he knew what had happened to Antonio. When he told her that he knew he'd been killed in jail, she said that that was what happened to boys who were careless."

"Careless?"

"In action or in words," he said, sounding every bit like an automaton.

How much had she preached this stuff to them?

"So she threatened Willie."

"Yes."

Lonnie went on to tell us about how he'd gotten himself invited to Robbie Flynt's house.

Not too long after that, she'd sent the boys out on their first _acquisition_.

That's what she called it.

"What was your part in the crime, Lonnie?"

"I helped," he admitted. "I was afraid not to. But Sam wasn't scared. When he saw Willie hit that man in the head with a golf club…"

"Wait, a golf club?"

"That was at the Flynt's house. The next time, Willie had some kind of green statue with him. He said that Antonio had stolen it back in the day, and Willie knew where he'd hidden it. He thought it would be cool to use it. Kind of like a memorial to him."

"That's some kind of memorial," I muttered. "So go ahead. What did Sam do when Willie hit the man with the golf club?"

"He just went back to the car. And then the next time, he didn't go at all. But now he's dead."

"He was hit by a car. You think that wasn't an accident?"

"I don't think there's any such thing when Mama's around."

"Are you going to charge him with murder?" Rolando asked. "Because I'm only acting as a guardian here. I'm not an attorney."

"We're not sure what's going to happen," Carolyn replied. "Obviously there are extenuating circumstances. I think we all need to sit down with an ADA and talk this out."

"Are you willing to stand up to her?" I asked Lonnie. "Knowing what she's done in the past? I'm not trying to scare you, but I do want you to understand. You won't be going back there."

"And she won't know where I am, right?"

"That's right," I told him. I pulled a business card from my wallet and handed it to him. "You call me if you need me, okay? Any time."

"I can't keep this," he replied. "What if she finds it?"

"Lonnie, you're free of her. She's not going to find it," Carolyn reminded him. He looked dubious, but then he bent down and pulled up his pant leg, tucking the card inside of his sock.

"Rolando will take you some place safe for the weekend and first thing Monday morning, we'll meet again and make it all official."

"I want to do the right thing. I'm not a killer. I didn't want to hurt those people. But she said that if I didn't do it then she'd send me back."

I didn't ask what he was so afraid to go back to. Obviously it was bad if staying with Watkins was preferable.

And maybe Ross was right.

Maybe I was getting soft.

But I could see myself in Lonnie.

He'd just gotten caught up in a crappy set of circumstances.

What would've happened to me if I'd actually gotten that shotgun when my mother asked me to?

If I'd blown a man away when I was thirteen?

It was a frightening prospect.

It was nearly two o'clock in the morning when we sent Rolando and Lonnie on their way. Rolando had mentioned taking the boy to a hotel in Queens.

I told him I didn't care where he took him as long as he kept it quiet.

"What do you think she's going to do when she realizes that he's gone?" Carolyn asked me as she climbed into the bed.

We were both exhausted but I couldn't help but feel a rush from the knowledge that we were finally, _finally_ going to put Chesley where she belonged.

"She's pretty cocky. I bet she won't even notice until the morning. If she thinks he's in bed like he's supposed to be, she'll never question that he followed the rules."

"It took a lot of guts for him to come here."

"Uh huh.

"You realize that with Lonnie's testimony, we'll be able to get her on the old murders as well as the new ones, right? I mean, it's hearsay to an extent, but combined with the evidence we already had…since Lonnie himself was witness to Willie's conversation with Chesley…"

"I know," I agreed, unable to stop the smile. "He's made our whole case for us. And you broke his nose."

"I didn't know it was him," she argued. "And even if I had known, I probably would've done the same thing. How was I supposed to know that Chesley hadn't sent him over here to kill us?"

"Sweetheart, you don't have to justify it to me. I probably would've shot him. Hell, I almost did."

In those moments standing out on the front sidewalk, when I'd had my gun jammed under his chin, I'd considered it. Not _seriously_ considered it, but my heart had been pounding so hard from fear after hearing that scream…I didn't realize until later that the scream had come from Lonnie.

"Some hero I turned out to be, huh? I'm inside trying to make sure the house is free of danger and in the process, I leave you outside alone with a killer."

"Mike…"

"No, I know. You don't need me to protect you. But every once in awhile, it would be okay with me if you'd let me."

"I did let you kill that spider the other day," she reminded me, slipping her leg over mine and running her hand over my chest. "That makes you a hero in my book."

"Well, it was a pretty big spider," I said with a grin. I tightened my grip on her, pulling her completely on top of me.

"It was huge," she whispered, bringing her lips down to mine. She kissed me leisurely and then moved her mouth down the side of my neck. "Simply enormous."

"Are we still talking about the spider?" I asked as she continued her southward track.

"What spider?"

Saturday morning we slept until ten.

It felt incredibly sinful to sleep so late, but we deserved it.

And I hadn't dreamed at all.

Or at least, nothing that I remembered.

And to wake up on my own accord with the sunlight streaming into the room…it didn't get much better.

It was going to be a good day.

We would call Connie and give her a heads-up on the latest development and then maybe we could set up a meeting with her and Cutter to decide how best to proceed.

Obviously, we'd need warrants to search Watkins' place.

We'd also finally be able to get the warrant for her finances, which might clue us in as to where she was stashing the goods.

Surely there was a paper trail somewhere.

I wasn't overly concerned about there being another home invasion because now the crew was down to two and I didn't think that even Watkins was daring enough to try that.

She liked four.

And she'd tolerated using three.

Two just wasn't enough.

I slipped out of bed, leaving Carolyn still asleep, and went downstairs to make breakfast. I don't normally do much along the lines of cooking, but breakfast I could do.

I made pancakes.

I decided that it was a nice fuck-you to my mother because surely she'd never intended for that memory to be a good one.

By the time Carolyn came into the kitchen thirty minutes later, I was getting ready to put breakfast on the table.

"I knew there was a reason why I married you," she said when she saw what I'd been up to. "Coffee, juice, pancakes…if you're naked under that apron, then I think I'm in love."

"You'd better be in love anyway," I retorted as I pulled off the ridiculously feminine apron. I'd only put it on to protect myself from anything that might decide to spatter from the skillet and I'd fully intended on removing it before she came down, but she'd been stealthy.

Although, it didn't matter.

The smile on her face was worth the brief embarrassment of having been caught wearing the smock.

"I am _so_ in love," she replied as she wrapped her arms around me. "In fact, I'm a little concerned."

"Why?"

"Something's going to happen. I'm too happy."

"We've been stressed for long enough," I argued lightly. "We deserve one morning of happiness. It doesn't have to be a portent of anything."

"Good. Where's the syrup? I'm starving."

An hour later, after we'd stuffed ourselves and then cleaned up the mess, we went up to the bedroom.

"I'll call Connie and see what time she can meet us. Why don't you go ahead and get in the shower? I'll be right there."

She went into the bathroom and I pulled out my cell phone.

I'd missed a call from Liz.

I checked the time and saw that it had just come in a minute ago, so I quickly dialed her back.

"Please tell me that you're not at work," I said when she answered.

My breakfast was suddenly sitting like a lead ball in my stomach. Liz didn't usually just call without reason. I mean, it was Saturday, so maybe, but still…

"Am I not supposed to be here?"

"What is it?" I asked, closing my eyes and letting out a deep breath.

"It might be nothing," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to make you nervous."

"Did you find a body in Queens," I asked her, obviously thinking about Lonnie.

"Queens? No. Brooklyn, actually."

"Okay…" I said carefully, waiting for her to finish.

"There was a car accident on the B.Q.E. It's Jenkins' case, actually, but I'm still making things up to him from last week, so…anyway. Sorry. Um, I was getting ready to start the autopsy and as I was removing the clothing, I found something peculiar."

"Peculiar," I repeated as my blood ran cold.

"That's right. One of your business cards was inside of the victim's sock."

TBC...


	67. Chapter 67

**Connie POV**

* * *

It was after four in the morning when Lupo finally got home. I had been half asleep on the couch when I heard his key in the lock.

I knew that he had to be exhausted and I wondered how that would affect his mood.

The fight we had earlier had been weighing on my mind and we'd only partially made up.

Would he come in and pick up where he left off?

Would he still be mad at me for recklessly and willfully putting myself at risk after I'd promised to be careful?

Or because I'd flown off the handle at him without hearing an explanation?

I was really irritated with myself for that.

I should've trusted that he wouldn't break a promise.

I should've at least _asked_.

Walking away had been a juvenile response.

I got up from the couch and went into the foyer. He had his back to me as he was taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack. When he turned around, he startled at the sight of me.

"What are you doing up?" he asked, his voice low and soft.

"Waiting for you," I answered.

I stood about three feet away from him, still trying to gauge his mood.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know."

He continued to stand where he was, just inside of the door.

The moment was awkward and I hated it.

"Lupo, about earlier…"

"I'm sorry," he said before I could say the words. "I should've told you about my conversation with Gingrich."

"Yes," I agreed. "But I should've trusted you to stick to your word."

"Are we okay?" he asked cautiously.

He opened his arms to me and I quickly stepped into his embrace. He sighed heavily and held me tightly as he buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"Don't you ever say that to me again," I told him gently.

"Say what?"

"That we shouldn't be together."

"Connie, you know I didn't mean…"

"I know. But don't say that. You promised me forever, right? I mean, not officially yet, but…"

"I'm promising you forever," he insisted, raising his head to look me in the eyes as he said the words. "Officially, unofficially...every which way I can."

"Okay then," I said. "You be as protective as you need to be. It's who you are."

"And when I drive you crazy?"

"Then I'll tell you about it. Because that's who I am," I replied with a smile.

He moved his hand up to my face and brushed my hair back behind my ear.

"I didn't tell you about what happened because I didn't want to bring up his name. I didn't want to be the one to make you think about him again."

"It doesn't hurt me to think about him," I told him. "It only makes me angry with myself for not doing something more at the time."

"He waited for me outside of 1PP," he said, still running his hand over my hair. "I'd asked Logan if he knew him, and if he still worked on the island. Logan made a call and it must have gotten back to Gingrich. He put two and two together."

"What did he say to you?"

"Nothing, really. I think he just wanted to get a look at me. And he wanted me to know that he knew I'd looked him up."

"And then you threatened him," I said, only without any heat.

I had no problem with the fact that he'd done so, especially knowing that Lee had sought him out. He had been an arrogant jackass and I didn't feel bad about the fact that he was dead.

Maybe that makes me cold, I don't know, but I'm not going to lose any sleep worrying about it.

"He mentioned going to your office. I told him to stay away from you. He laughed at me and asked if I planned to arrest him."

"And you said…"

"I said I wouldn't bother arresting him. And that no one would ever find his body."

It was one of those things that people said from time to time in a moment of anger.

It wasn't anything unusual or criminal in itself.

Except that now Lee was dead.

Although considering the fact that he was the second ADA from Staten Island in less than a week, I was sure that Bernard would be able to clear Lupo pretty quickly.

Not only that, but his time Friday was fully accounted for.

He'd spent the day with Bernard, with the exception of his lunch hour, which he'd spent with me.

I hoped it wouldn't come down to us having to give details as to exactly what we'd been doing during that hour, but it would depend on the time of death.

"You'll be cleared by the end of the day," I said.

"Am I cleared with you? Because that's really all I care about."

I smiled at him and pressed my lips against his.

"We're good, Lupo," I promised. "But you know, this is the second Friday in a row we've gotten into a fight."

"Well, married couples do usually tend to do things on a schedule," he replied.

We were still holding each other in the foyer, but as he spoke he scooped me up into his arms.

"Lupo, your knee," I reminded him, unable to stop the squeal at his unexpected move.

"My knee is fine," he said as he carried me to the bedroom. "I'm thinking that if Fridays are going to be fight days then Saturdays should be the time for make-up sex."

He set me down on the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Maybe next time we'll skip the fight and go straight for the making up," I suggested.

"I like that idea," he agreed.

"Aren't you tired?" I asked him, although watching him get undressed, I was anything but tired.

I'd been on an emotional roller coaster waiting to resolve our issues and now that we were back on solid ground, I wanted him desperately. But he'd been working for almost twenty-four hours straight.

"I'm never too tired for you."

And he was right.

We probably woke up our neighbors because we'd left Otto in the living room so he barked for a solid hour while Lupo made love to me.

When we finished, I got up and apologized to Otto by letting him get onto our bed, and then I went over to set the alarm.

"What time?" I asked him.

"Oh, um…we have a meeting with Ross at eight, so…"

"Eight?" I repeated. It was almost five-thirty.

"Yeah," he said apologetically. "I guess set it for seven. I'll be quick."

I set the alarm and then climbed into bed.

"You should've gone to sleep when you first got here," I told him.

"And missed out on that? Not a chance," he said contentedly. I turned onto my back and held out my arm to him, so he settled his head against my chest and I immediately began running my fingers through his hair. I knew that it would put him to sleep.

Several minutes of silence passed and then he started talking, his voice deep and husky.

"I had to watch my mom die," he said. "One day she was this beautiful, vibrant woman and the next…the next she couldn't even get up out of bed. Seven months was all it took and I couldn't do a thing about it."

"I know that had to be so hard on you."

"It just made me feel completely helpless."

"But you weren't. You took care of your siblings. You eased her mind by making sure things got done."

"Yeah, I got things done," he said with sarcasm. "I smoked pot. I'm a hero."

"Lupo, you were a kid and you were thrown into a grown-up's job. You did the best you could."

"I know," he admitted. "It's just…it's so frustrating to feel so powerless. And then my brother…my sister…almost everyone I've ever loved has died. And I couldn't do anything about any of them."

I'll blame it on the lack of sleep that it took me so long to make the parallel.

He wanted me to understand why he felt so strongly about looking out for me.

"I meant what I said earlier," I told him. "You just…be you. That's who I love."

**

* * *

**

Hayes POV

We worked the scene and then called it a night.

"I'll get your guy on the table first thing in the morning," Rodgers told us. "Get some sleep."

So we'd gone back to the car and Bernard drove to my place.

It was still fairly early, not quite eleven, so I asked if he wanted to come in. And maybe it was really inappropriate of me, I don't know.

He looked at me carefully for a minute and then found a place to park.

"I have to warn you," I told him as I unlocked the door to my apartment. "I haven't been home since early this morning. Janis is going to be needy."

"Meaning what, exactly?"

"Haven't you ever had a pet?" I asked him as we went inside. I closed the door and immediately felt my cat pressing against my legs. I nodded my head in her direction and said, "This. If you sit down, she's going to be in your lap."

"That probably is kind of nice, huh? It's like having someone at home waiting for you."

"I guess. I've never had a person at home," I admitted. "Since college, I've only ever lived by myself. And well, with Janis."

"Since college," he mused. "So that was what, three years ago? Four?"

I barked out a laugh and took off my coat, tossing it onto the back of the couch.

"How old do you think I am?"

"Uh uh," he said with a smile. "I'm not touching that one. That's one of two things you never, ever ask a woman."

"Wait, I know this," I joked. "_Are those real_ and _how many men have you slept with_, right? Oh, hey, do you want a beer?"

"Sure," he said, still laughing at my joke. He took off his coat and followed me into the kitchen. "But just one. Then I'd better go."

"Why, do you have a date with the chick from McNally's?"

"No," he said shaking his head.

"Good. I DVR'd the game."

"You're going to make me watch the Knicks and the Timberwolves two nights in a row?"

"The Lakers game," I corrected. "They played San Antonio tonight, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, seemingly extremely surprised that I'd recorded the Lakers. And yeah, I'd recorded the other one, too, but I'd purposely done the Lakers game on the off-chance that we'd have some down time.

I got two beers from the fridge and then we went back into the living room.

"Oh, and you can ask," I told him as I turned on the TV. He sat down on the couch and Janis hopped in his lap.

"Ask what?"

"The question. I don't mind."

I glanced at him since he didn't respond and I found him surreptitiously looking at my chest.

"Not _my_ questions," I said, amused by the way his eyes immediately jumped up to mine. "You want to know how old I am? Thirty-five. If your other banned question is how much do I weigh, then you're right. I'm not answering that one."

"It never occurred to me to ask that one," he said with a wave of his hand. "I was just curious about your age. You look way too young to be a detective."

"Thanks," I answered, secretly pleased that he'd even bothered to think about it.

I wasn't sure where this thing with him was going.

It almost seemed as though he'd rather us be friends, but I could work with that.

I mean, good relationships usually started as friendships anyway.

But I also didn't want him to think of me as just one of the guys.

It was kind of a catch-22, especially now that I was partnered with him.

How was I supposed to remind him that I was a woman in the off-hours and yet make sure he thought of me as an equal at work?

I might have to get some advice on that one.

I knew a couple of people who had surely figured out the answer to that question.

In the mean time, I'd put my hair down after work.

And he'd definitely noticed that.

And then on the way to the crime scene, I'd put it back up.

Again, he'd been watching.

In fact, he watched me a lot.

Was he just curious by nature, or was there interest there?

He was a tough read. He was a nice guy, so it was really hard to tell the difference between manners and interest.

At some point during the game, I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up to find that the TV was dark and Bernard was gone.

I had a blanket over me, so he must have pulled one from the closet.

_Sweet gesture_, I thought.

Except I was disappointed that he'd left without saying anything.

Was he _that_ kind of guy?

I shook my head, annoyed with myself.

It's not like we'd had _sex_.

Then, slipping out without a word would've been punishable by death.

I sat up and stretched, working the kinks out of my back and then I saw the note.

_**I'll pick you up at nine o'clock and we'll go to the morgue. Thanks for the beer and the game**_.

He'd signed the note _**B**_.

And then there was a P.S.

_**I think Janis likes me. I'm going to have to invest in a lint brush.**_

I chuckled at the thought of him having to put on a hair-covered jacket for the drive home, and I made a mental note to buy him one.

Because that would be a subtle sign that I wanted him to hang around more, right?

"You like him, huh?" I asked my cat as she rubbed up against me. She meowed as if in agreement. "Yeah. Me, too."

I picked her up and the two of us went into the bedroom for a few more hours of sleep before it would be time to start another day.

By eight-fifty, I was dressed and ready and standing in front of my building.

I didn't want Bernard to have to wait.

I was back in professional mode and I wanted to show my temporary partner that I could get the job done.

"You didn't have to come and get me," I told him as I climbed in the car. Even though I'd been early, so was he. He'd pulled up only a minute after I got outside. "I could've taken the subway."

"You're on my way," he said casually. "I'm betting Dr. Rodgers will have a definitive TOD by now."

And she did.

"Remember what I said about a nooner?" she remarked when we got to the morgue. "I'm sticking with it. It may not have been at exactly twelve, but it was pretty close. Thirty minutes either way."

I heard Bernard let out a heavy sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"Lupes left 1PP at five minutes before twelve. He got back at a few minutes after one."

"So we'll go ask him what he was doing. He's expecting us to question him anyway."

"I know. I was just hoping that it wouldn't come to that."

"Here's my question, Detectives," Rodgers spoke up. "How did your killer get him into the snake habitat at lunch time on a weekday? The weather was nice yesterday. Surely there were people at the zoo."

"According to the employees we spoke with, no one saw a thing."

"Maybe the snake habitat isn't such a popular area," Bernard suggested. "I mean…it's snakes."

"No, but it does mean that our vic was probably alive when he got there. Anyone carrying a body would've definitely been spotted," I said as Rodgers nodded her head.

"So maybe he had a _meeting_ in the snake pit. That's a good place for a lawyer."

"And if he was already in there with the killer, it would've only taken a few minutes to strangle him and stash him in with the snake."

"But no one noticed him for hours," Bernard pointed out. "How can that be?"

"We need to go back to the zoo and ask some more questions," I said as we headed for the door. "Thanks, Doctor."

"Any time. I'll call you when I get the tox report."

"Thanks," Bernard said. Then he pulled the door open for me and said, "Let's find Lupo first. I want to get that out of the way."

We planned to call him once we got back to the car, but instead we ran into him and Eames in the hallway. They were on their way in to see Rodgers.

"Is it just me, or does this feel awkward?" Eames joked. "You know, like getting caught cheating."

"I don't know. I've never cheated so I've never been caught," I retorted.

"How's the case coming?" Lupo asked us.

"We need to clear you, Lupes. I don't want it to come out later and then have someone ask why you weren't first on our list."

"Sure," he agreed with a shrug. He turned to Eames. "Go get the scoop from Liz and I'll catch up to you."

We walked with Lupo around the corner to the break room. It was empty, so it would serve our purpose.

"Okay, let's get this out of the way. I know you left 1PP at eleven fifty-five yesterday. Where did you go?"

Lupo kept his eyes focused on the table for a minute and I thought that maybe he was angry about the question, but when he finally looked up, he was staring at me.

"What?" I asked self-consciously.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "I was going to ask if I could talk to Bernard alone, but that wouldn't really help my case much, would it? Then it might be suggested that my partner was covering for me."

He chuckled humorlessly, and then said, "I was with Connie."

"The whole time?"

"Well, it took me a few minutes to drive to her office. I parked the car in the garage."

"And then what?"

"And then she came down. Probably…oh, I don't know. Twelve-ten."

"Okay, where did you go?" I asked him. I wasn't sure why he was so hesitant. At least he'd been with Connie instead of having to say he'd been at home alone.

"We didn't go anywhere."

"You stayed in the parking garage?"

"Uh huh."

"For the whole hour?"

"I left at around ten 'til one. I got back to 1PP and stopped off on the fourth floor to…um…take a quick shower. I think I was about five minutes or so late getting back to work."

"Wait," I asked. "So you just sat in the car?"

"Something like that, yeah," he said, giving a pointed look to Bernard.

And I finally got it. I hate to think of myself as being slow or naïve, but wow…he'd really lost me on that one.

"Oh!" I said in understanding. "Okay. Well, you know, that's fine. It works. I mean, as alibis go. I mean, because the DA's office probably has cameras in their parking garage, right? So it would've seen you coming."

I heard Bernard make some kind of snort of amusement and Lupo just stared at me, and I had to think back over what I'd just said.

And here's the thing about me. Sometimes I start talking and I can't seem to make myself stop and when that happens, I don't think about the words before they come out.

This was apparently one of those times.

"Well, I mean, not…I mean I don't know if they have cameras _in_ the garage, but I mean at the _entrance_ so when I said that it would've _seen_ you, I didn't mean that it saw anything _per se_, I just meant that we should be able to find documented proof of what time you arrived at the garage and then what time you left so there's no way that you could've been responsible, despite the fact that you threatened the victim. What did you say to him anyway?" I asked at last, desperate to stop my incessant chatter.

"I told him that if he came near Connie, no one would ever find his body."

I was surprised to hear that Lupo had said something like that, although I guess I really didn't know him that well. But it did make me wonder about the victim's relationship with Connie.

Had Lupo been reacting out of jealousy? Or was it something more?

"So he's an old boyfriend?" Bernard asked him, obviously thinking along the same lines as me.

"I'd rather not get into that. But if your investigation determines that it's relevant, then you can ask her."

"Okay," Bernard said with a nod. "I hear you. We'll put your statement in the file and call it good."

Leaving Lupo in the morgue, Bernard and I headed for the car.

"At least your partner's cleared, huh?" I commented as we got in the car. "Not that you suspected him or anything."

"No, I didn't. But I used to work in IAB and I know how sometimes these things can really mess with a guy's career, whether he's guilty of anything or not. I'm glad he has a solid alibi."

"We'll pull the security footage just to be sure."

"Uh huh," he agreed. Then he started laughing and shook his head. "You know, I tease him about that all of the time, but I never thought that was what they were actually doing."

"Well, they're busy people. I guess they figure they have to get it in when they can," I said easily. And then I thought about how that sounded. "I mean, oh man, that did not come out right."

"I get your point," he said, still chuckling. "Okay, Hayes. What do you say we go back to the snake pit?"

TBC...


	68. Chapter 68

**Bobby POV**

* * *

"They should be here by now," Alex remarked.

We'd been situated in the driveway of one of Kevin's neighbors for about twenty-five minutes.

The occupant of the house was an elderly woman who had been more than happy to allow us to use her driveway.

It helped us blend with the neighborhood rather than trying to park on the street.

And considering it was daylight, we needed to be extra cautious.

Tomlin had seen us, so he knew what we looked like.

We'd swapped out our usual SUV for my Mustang which didn't have the tinted windows but it also didn't scream cop.

"We told Daner to wait half an hour," I reminded her.

"I know."

"So they should be a half-hour behind us."

"Exactly."

"We haven't been here that long," I said in a soothing voice. "I'm sure they'll be here any minute."

But despite my outwardly calm appearance, I was filled with various emotions.

I was nervous about Alex being here. She wasn't anywhere near full capacity.

What if this thing got ugly?

And then there was Kevin.

I knew how badly he wanted to catch Tomlin.

Would he do something reckless? I knew that he wouldn't intentionally mess up the bust, but he might make a bad decision under the guise of bravery.

And then there was Tomlin himself.

Would he show?

How far over the line was he?

Was he jacked up on pills?

Had he worked himself into a psychopathic frenzy?

From the looks of his last victim, I'd have to say yes.

But was _he_ working at full capacity?

Lupo and Bernard had found blood in Bradley's house. I hadn't seen any noticeable injuries that day in the abandoned building, but that didn't mean that he wasn't hurt.

And with the marks on Simon Nessman, it was plausible that _he'd_ gotten in a few good licks.

"Here they come," Alex said quietly.

I looked down the street and watched the black and white as it parked. Kevin got out and crossed the street, moving quickly to go into his house.

He didn't turn his head one way or the other, but simply focused on the door. I quit looking at him and instead scanned the area.

There was no sign of movement anywhere.

After he'd been in the house for several minutes, I began to get antsy.

"He didn't open the blinds," I stated.

"I know," she replied carefully. "I told him to."

"Uh huh."

I continued to stare at the house, letting my eyes take in the exterior. It was a nice home, decent-sized with a two-car garage. Kevin's car was still at the police garage, but Kendra's was here.

"Do they usually park both cars inside?" I asked Alex.

"Yeah."

"So half of the garage is empty."

I pondered that for a minute. Tomlin had been stalking Kevin. He'd been here the night that Kendra had come back.

Had he come back since then?

Had he watched the house and realized that it was empty?

"What," Alex stated.

The word itself was an interrogative but when Alex said it to me, it was more like a command.

_Tell me right now what you're thinking_.

I hadn't said a word or made a sound, but I realized that she'd been watching my face and that was all it took for her to know that something had crossed my mind.

"Why can't we ever find the cars?" I posed. "He takes the car, we put out the APB, and then they eventually show up but only after he's done. We've had every cop in this city keeping an eye out for first the Chevelle and now the Lumina…but nothing."

"We're assuming he has a hiding place."

"Like a garage."

"Well, yeah, but…wait, you mean Kevin's?" she asked sharply.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But think about it. We've been keeping Kevin away. He's been waiting for him. What better place to hide?"

"You think he's in there?" she asked, her voice rising in intensity.

"Maybe. Or he could have already ditched the Lumina and he's sleeping off his murderous rage in one of the abandoned buildings in Hell's Kitchen. But I'd sure be a lot happier if Kevin would open those blinds."

"I'll call him," she said, pulling out her phone.

It went to voice mail, and she let out a string of curses.

"We need to go in. There's no reason why he's not answering."

Her phone rang as it was still in her hand and she immediately answered.

"Open the damn blinds, Kevin, and do what we told you to do, or we're pulling the plug on this little operation right now," she said heatedly, and then she paused. "Sean? What is it?"

After a moment, she said, "We're going in. Call for back up."

She hung up and pulled her gun as she spoke.

"Kevin's prints were on that scrap of paper. Tomlin must have used a notepad from Kevin's house. He's in there. He has to be in there. Damn it, I knew this was too risky."

**

* * *

**

Kevin POV

The house was quiet as I went through the front room.

But I knew he was here.

The place smelled of stale smoke and body odor.

And blood.

_He must have come back here to clean up_, I thought. _That fireman's blood is in my house._

I heard a noise in the garage, the sound of a tool hitting the cement floor. I changed directions and slipped through the kitchen, grabbing a butcher knife as I passed through on my way to the garage.

There was blood in my kitchen sink.

It sickened me to know that this guy had been living in my house. How could I bring my kids back to this place?

I forced that thought from my mind. I'd deal with that later.

For now, I needed to keep the upper hand.

So far, I didn't think that he knew I was here.

Since he'd been in the garage, he probably hadn't heard the front door open. I reached for my phone and switched it to silent.

I had no doubt that Alex would be calling me any minute to find out why I hadn't opened the blinds.

But this was my fight, not hers. And Tomlin was presenting me with the perfect opportunity to take care of it on my own.

I opened the door separating the kitchen and the garage, just a crack so that I could see inside.

There were two cars parked there. Kendra's, and another one, one I didn't recognize.

_Probably his last victim's car._

The room smelled of gas and that worried me. I mean, it usually smelled faintly of gas, but this was stronger.

Much, _much_ stronger.

I pulled the door open a little more so that I could get a visual on Tomlin, but I couldn't see him. My two gas cans were lying on the floor, each on its side and apparently empty. They were five-gallon containers, and they'd both been full.

I eased the door just a little bit more and then suddenly the door was shoved back at me.

The wood caught me in the forehead and the force of the door being pushed open sent me staggering backwards several steps.

But I stayed on my feet. Which was a good thing, because there in the doorway stood Tomlin.

He had a gun in one hand and a lighter in the other. And he had a smile on his face.

He flicked his finger over the igniter switch and lit the flame.

"Kevin Eames. I'd just about given up on you. I thought I'd heat things up and bring you out of your hole, but I guess maybe you have a set on you after all. It's about damn time."

He glanced down at the knife in my hand and shook his head.

"Didn't your daddy ever teach you not to bring a knife to a gun fight?"

"Since when did you start using guns?" I retorted, hoping to get him talking so that I could buy some time.

For what, I wasn't sure.

What had been my brilliant plan?

To sneak up on him and stab him to death, like he'd done to the others? Not such a great idea.

I flashed onto the thought of my unborn child.

Would he grow up never knowing his father?

How long would Bobby and Alex wait before coming in?

Would they even come in?

Would they know he was here?

They were smart, both of them. But would they figure it out?

It was funny how quickly the tables had turned.

Five minutes ago, I'd been ready to do this on my own.

Now I was praying for my little sister to help me out.

"I like a good gun every now and again," he replied. "But it's less personal, you know? It does all of the work for you. Me, I like to get my hands dirty."

He breathed in deeply, sniffing the air around us.

"Don't you just love that smell, Kevin? It's what keeps guys like you in business, right?"

I didn't answer him, and he raised the gun so that it was pointing at my head.

"Since you're here, I think we're going to conduct a little experiment," he told me. "I have a point to prove."

"What's that?"

"That doing drugs hampers your ability to effectively put out a fire."

This guy had lost his mind.

"I can answer that for you. It does."

"It didn't stop you though, did it? You guys all act like you're fucking heroes but you're just a bunch of pathetic addicts."

"You're exactly right," I agreed. "We're no heroes, none of us."

I gripped the handle of my knife a little tighter, hoping that he would change the aim of his gun, even for a second, so that I could attack.

"But…I still want to do my experiment. So, where's your shit?"

"I don't have any."

"Don't bother lying," he said in annoyance. "You're a cokehead. Cokeheads are rarely without their shit. So where is it?"

"I'm telling you, I don't have any. I haven't done any since the night you killed Dom."

He barely reacted to my mention of Dom's name, although I'm not sure what I expected. He didn't seem the type to feel remorse.

"You have to the count of five to tell me."

"Or what?" I asked with false bravado.

"I'll shoot you," he replied easily. "But in the mean time, I'd better give Part B of this research a little time to get going."

And then he tossed the lighter behind him and I watched helplessly as my garage went up in flames.

"Okay, Kevin. One…two…"

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

We were out of the car and across the road in a matter of seconds.

"Let me go in first," Bobby said.

I whipped my head around, glaring at him in protest.

I _always_ went in first.

And now wasn't the time to argue about it.

But he just nodded at my arm.

_Oh, right_.

I couldn't exactly open the door and hold my gun at the same time.

Damn this sling.

I didn't want to change our whole dynamic. We did things the way we did for a reason.

And this was too important for us to mess it up just because we were out of sync.

I paused at the corner of the house and put my gun in the holster.

"What are you …"

"I'm taking it off," I said as I tugged at the sling. "I'm fine. I was going to take it off tomorrow anyway. It's just going to get in the way."

To his credit, he didn't argue with me.

"Which door?" he asked me when I was once again ready to move.

"I'm sure the place is locked up," I said. "We can either break the window on the side garage door, or I can pick the front lock."

"Let's go around to the garage. Maybe we can get a glimpse inside."

So we hurried across the front of the house to the garage, and then around the corner to the side door.

"I smell smoke," Bobby said as we got close. We couldn't see through the windows, but the door was hot.

"We can't go in this way. If we break the glass, the oxygen will feed the fire."

"Let's go back to the front and you can pick the lock."

We ran back to the front, and I was cursing myself for the amount of time we were wasting just trying to get in.

_What was going on in there? _

Bobby called 9-1-1 to alert the fire department as I whipped out my tool to pick the lock.

I'm usually pretty quick, but my hands were shaking.

"You can do this," Bobby said quietly.

I took a deep breath and clicked the tumbler into place.

We were in.

But as we passed through the foyer, with our guns raised, a shot rang out and I heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.

TBC...


	69. Chapter 69

**Kevin POV**

* * *

I was trying really hard not to panic.

But I couldn't decide the best way out of this situation.

First off, he was pointing a gun at me.

And he was demanding me to tell him where I kept my drugs. I could make something up, possibly to stall, but eventually he was going to figure it out.

I have no drugs in my house.

I plan to never have drugs in my house again.

It was a hard lesson learned, but it was most definitely _learned_.

The other thing that worried me was the fire. The ten gallons of gasoline he'd spread around had caused the fire to be immediately intense.

And I didn't even want to think about what would happen when it breached the storage cabinets, but I couldn't help it.

I'm a firefighter.

And I knew exactly which items inside of those wooden cabinets that would spell trouble. Wood stain…varnish…WD-40…all of those things could potentially explode.

And of course, there were the obvious things, too, like the cars. I didn't know how much gas the other car had in it, but Kendra usually refilled her tank when it got down to half.

Once the blaze got hot enough to ignite the fuel lines, not only would the rest of my house be at risk, but my neighbor's as well.

There was an elderly man who lived on that side of me and he was not in good health. I wasn't sure if he would be able to get himself out of the house.

"Okay, Kevin. One…two…" Tomlin began.

"You're high right now, aren't you, Mac?" I spoke up, taking a step closer to him. "Because you're not thinking straight."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean any second that fire's going to catch onto one of the gas tanks. Didn't you learn anything at the training school? Oh no wait…you flunked out, didn't you?"

"I did not flunk out!" he yelled back.

"That's not what I heard. And really, considering how close you're standing to your own handiwork, I'd say you're either pretty stupid, or you've got a death wish."

"I'm stupid? You're going to say that _I'm_ the stupid one?"

"You left the door open," I said, with a nod towards the garage. "Where do you think the fire is going to go? And what happens when that tank explodes, huh?"

"Shut up about that! Now tell me where you keep your shit. I want to see you choke on a line and then try to put out this fire."

"I can't put it out," I admitted.

And I wasn't kidding.

It was starting to get out of control and my measly fire extinguisher wasn't going to touch it. The best I could hope for was that Alex had called the fire department and that they could get here before it spread too much.

I wondered if old man Preston was home.

Probably.

He rarely went anywhere.

"Three…"

"I don't have any drugs. Even if I was still using, which I'm not, I just got home. I haven't been here in almost two weeks. There's nothing here."

"Four," he said, ignoring my denial.

This was it.

If I didn't do anything, he was going to shoot me. So what would it hurt to try something, right?

"I will say this much for you, Mac. You might be a washout as a firefighter, but you're a hell of a good pyromaniac. What did you use to start that thing?" I asked him, feigning admiration.

As I'd expected, he wasn't able to resist casting a quick glance towards the growing fire.

The second he turned his head, I lunged for him.

He whirled back around and fired a shot but it wasn't enough to stop my momentum.

I wrapped both arms around him and took him down to the ground.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

The sound of the shot and the subsequent thud had both of us racing towards the kitchen.

I shoved down the sick feeling that arose at the prospect of what we might find.

We cleared the doorway and found Kevin on the floor in the kitchen. Relief flooded through me as I saw that Kevin was on top of Tomlin.

Although he looked ready to kill him.

He had one hand on his throat and in the other hand he held a large butcher knife.

There was a gun on the floor near the two men. Alex circled around and kicked the weapon out of the way as both of us kept our guns aimed at Tomlin.

"Are you okay, Kevin?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I've got this, Alex."

"No, we've got him," I said. "Let him go."

"Just do it, Kevin," Tomlin taunted. "You know you want to."

Tomlin's face reddened as Kevin increased the pressure on his throat.

"Don't do this," Alex told him. "We'll take him in. He'll be going to jail for a very long time."

"Can you guarantee that? Can you really stand there and tell me for sure that he'll go to prison?"

"We have all the evidence we need," she assured him.

"What if it gets tossed out? That kind of thing happens all the time. He'll get some slimy, high priced lawyer and he'll walk. Or the judge will give him bail and he'll skip town. Alex…"

"You need to let him go," I said calmly. "You'll only make things worse for yourself."

"He's in my house. He attacked me," he reminded us.

"And we're here to make the arrest," I said. "He won't skate."

"Come on, Kevin," Tomlin rasped. "You think coke gives you a good high? You should try murder. There's nothing like that feeling of invincibility…the power…do it, Kevin."

The blaze from the garage was rapidly increasing in intensity and I wondered how much longer we had before the gas tanks exploded.

"We're running out of time. We need to get out of the house," I told him, moving close enough to settle my hand on his shoulder. "Move aside and let us put him under arrest."

I could understand how much he wanted to get his own kind of justice. I would probably have reacted the same way if I'd been in his shoes.

But I couldn't let him do it.

I tucked my gun into its holster and grabbed onto his other shoulder, urging him to stand.

Alex kept her weapon trained on Tomlin, but he remained submissive as Kevin got up and moved aside.

I pulled the knife from his hand and tossed it into the kitchen sink and then got down to cuff Tomlin.

I roughly turned him onto his stomach and just as I was getting ready to put on the cuffs, there was a loud explosion.

I covered my head against the wave of heat and Tomlin chose that moment to try to get away.

He began kicking desperately, scooting away from my grasp.

He caught me in the jaw with his foot and then scrambled towards the garage.

"Hold still!" Alex shouted, still pointing her gun at him.

I grabbed for his waistband and got a good grip on it, dragging him away from the doorway and the ever-growing flames.

"You heard the lady," I growled at him. "Hold still."

I finally slammed the cuffs into place and then jerked him up to his feet.

"We need to get out of here," Alex said, leading the way to the door.

"Did you already call the fire department?" Kevin asked.

"A few minutes ago," I told him as we hustled towards the door.

Tomlin let his legs go limp, turning himself into dead weight. He was a big man, and I almost went down with him, but Kevin saw my struggle and grabbed onto one of his arms while I held the other.

We accidentally rammed his head into the door frame on the way out the front door and he immediately began shouting police brutality.

"You think that was brutal? You haven't seen anything yet," Alex snapped at him as we dragged him out onto the lawn. She shouted out to the officer who was doing a bang-up job of being clueless, "Daner!"

"Shit, it's spreading!" Kevin yelled. "I've got to help my neighbor!"

He let go of Tomlin and started running across his front lawn toward the house next door.

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

"He's going after the neighbor!" Bobby called out to me.

"What?" I asked. I'd been heading towards the black and white, but I stopped in my tracks and whirled around. Kevin was almost to the front door of the neighbor's house, which had apparently caught on fire after the blast in the garage. "Kevin!"

"Get Daner!" Bobby shouted as he shoved Tomlin face-first down onto the ground. "Then we'll go!"

My instincts were to go after my brother, but I knew Bobby was right so I turned around and ran towards the police car.

When I was halfway there, Daner finally saw me and got out of his car.

"What's going…"

"Get over here!" I shouted. To his credit, he hurried across the street and together we went back to where Bobby stood over Tomlin.

"Take him to your car," Bobby instructed.

"And if he tries to run, shoot him," I added, shoving my gun back into its holster.

And then the two of us ran after Kevin.

The front door was still open and we could see that the flames had spread quickly.

"Kevin!" Bobby shouted.

The rush of fire was all we could hear, along with the far-off wail of approaching sirens.

Only half of the house was burning, the half which nearly touched Kevin's garage, so that reduced our search area, but still…the heat was almost unbearable.

"I hate pyromaniacs," I stated as we pulled off our jackets and used them to help shield our faces. "Give me a good old-fashioned murderer any day."

"This time we got both," he reminded me.

The living room appeared empty and then I saw muddy tracks along the hallway carpeting.

"Back room!" I pointed out.

"Kevin!" Bobby called again.

"Don't come in," he called back. "We're coming out!"

The sound of his voice sent a rush of relief through me, but then something exploded in the living room, causing the front windows to blow out.

The fresh oxygen sent the flames racing down the hall after us.

"He's got oxygen tanks!" Kevin called out, suddenly appearing in the doorway with his arm around a tiny old man. He appeared to be struggling to get a good breath. "He's got two more in the bedroom! We need to get out of here!"

"I'm not sure if we can get out through the front," Bobby told him, stepping to the side so that Kevin could see that our exit path was completely engulfed. "Is there another way?"

"We'll have to use a window. Come on."

He opened another door off the hall which was only filled with smoke, but was not actually on fire yet. The room had a window which looked out into the backyard.

We closed the bedroom door to stall the advancement of the flames and went to the window.

"It's nailed shut," the old man wheezed. "For safety reasons."

"Stay back," Bobby said, grabbing for a chair. He swung the chair at the window, smashing out the glass and creating an escape route.

I looked through and saw that due to the sloping of the exterior landscape, we were now about ten feet from the ground.

"Bobby, you go first," Kevin said. "You can be down there to help on that end, and I'll make sure everyone gets out."

He cast me a quick, worried glance, but Kevin spoke up again before I could say anything.

"This is what I do. Let me do it."

I gave Bobby a nod, and he held my gaze for one meaningful second longer and then he put his jacket over the jagged glass on the sill and then went through the window.

I knew he didn't want to leave me in here, but it was the only way.

"Let's get him through," I told Kevin, stepping up to help him with the old man.

"I can't…get a breath…." he told us. "I need…my oxygen…"

"An ambulance is on the way. They'll take care of you," I promised, and then together Kevin and I lifted him onto the sill.

With my one good arm, I helped hang onto him as long as we could and then we let him go.

I watched as Bobby caught him, staggering back a few steps before recovering and setting him on the ground.

"Come on," he said, turning back to the window. "Hurry up!"

"You're going to be right behind me, right?" I questioned as I put my hands on the ledge.

He didn't respond, so I glanced back and saw that his face had gone ashen.

"Kevin?"

"Alex, I…" he began. And then he fell to the floor.

"Kevin!" I shouted, quickly moving from the window to where my brother had fallen.

"Alex!" Bobby called out. "Come on! The roof's caught!"

But Kevin was out cold. I quickly felt for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.

"Alex!" Bobby yelled again.

"Kevin passed out!" I yelled back.

"What?"

And I could hear the panic in his voice.

This was why he hadn't wanted to go first. In case something happened that hindered my escape.

The flames were eating at the bedroom door and I knew once they got through, the open window would set the room ablaze in no time.

I had to get him out of here.

I ignored the pain in my left arm as I grabbed hold of my brother with both hands and tried to pull him up to the window.

But he outweighed me by quite a bit and with me only working at partial capacity, I couldn't lift him.

I changed my technique and instead grabbed him in a bear hug. And that was when my hand encountered wetness.

I pulled my hand back and found it covered with blood.

Apparently the bullet from Tomlin's gun hadn't missed.

TBC...


	70. Chapter 70

**Bernard POV**

* * *

Hayes and I headed back to the zoo to check out both scenes again.

It would certainly be interesting to try to figure out just exactly how the killer had surreptitiously gotten our victim into the snake habitat in the middle of the day.

Although I kind of had to hold on to the idea that snakes couldn't possibly be all that popular.

The killer could've waited until no one was around, and then strangled Gingrich. Then he could've finagled the lock on the Plexiglas panel and shoved the body inside.

To be honest, I'd never even noticed that those panels came open. Of course, I'd never spent much time in zoos. They hadn't exactly been popular in Compton.

"Are you a zoo person?" I asked as I came to a stop in the mid-morning traffic.

"I like to look from time to time," she replied. "Although it's been awhile. Actually, I've never been to the one here. Well, not before we got this case anyway. I used to go to the one in Minnesota. They have a pretty nice one, fairly close to where I lived growing up. You?"

"No," I admitted.

"You're not an animal guy, are you?" she said with a smile.

"I like animals. Just not snakes."

"Or cats."

"Janis and I got along just fine last night," I told her. "She was actually pretty upset with me for leaving. I had to wake her up to get her off of my jacket."

"So you woke her up, but not me?"

"You looked…comfortable."

And comfortable hadn't been the descriptive that crossed my mind last night.

I'd watched the last second tick off the clock in the basketball game and then I'd turned to her to gloat about the fact that my team had pulled it off and that was when I realized that she'd fallen asleep.

It was strange, really.

I'd known her for less than two weeks and yet I'd already seen her sleeping.

Twice.

And she'd just looked so beautiful.

It wasn't hard to imagine what it would be like waking up next to her.

I tortured myself with that fantasy for a solid minute and then I'd gone to her closet to get a blanket. I took longer than was probably necessary, spreading it over her and making sure that she was properly tucked in. And then I turned off the TV and sat down to put on my shoes.

She'd recorded the game for me.

I couldn't remember the last time someone had done something so thoughtful.

And really, how sad was that?

It meant pushing a button on her remote control.

But yet it also meant that she'd been thinking about me.

I liked that idea, but at the same time, I had to force myself to face reality.

She liked me _as a friend_.

She had a thing for some guy at 1PP.

Probably Whitman, that arrogant ass.

If I found out that it _was_ him, I'd have to have a chat with him. Because if he screwed her over like his reputation suggested that he might, I'd have to hurt him.

While I put on my shoes, I'd decided that a note would be a good idea.

I mean, I'm a nice guy.

And no, I wasn't slinking out of her house in the middle of the night after an erotic rendezvous.

_I wish_.

Well, I wished for the erotic part.

Not the slinking out part.

Because if I was ever lucky enough to find myself in her bed, I would surely never want to leave.

But anyway, so I left her a note.

I'd struggled with the signature. Bernard seemed too formal, and yet no one in my life these days called me Kevin.

I went with B.

Lupo called me that a lot, now that we were tight, so maybe that was something she'd catch on to.

It intimated closeness, a bond beyond mere colleagues.

I set down the pen and then looked up. Janis was still curled in a ball on top of my suit jacket. I reached out to rub her on the head, hoping that she would move on her own once she was awake. She didn't. Instead, she'd started purring. I had no doubt that she'd once again shared her white hairs with me, so I smirked and quickly scrawled out the P.S.

And I wasn't kidding. I was going to buy a lint brush.

Hell, I'd buy a dozen if it was because I needed them due to spending an extended amount of time at her place.

"Comfortable, huh?" Hayes said dubiously. "I was probably snoring."

"Well, yeah. What do you think woke _me_ up?" I teased. I glanced over at her since we were still moving at a snail's pace in traffic. She grinned at me and started to say something, but then my phone buzzed.

"It's Rodgers," I said, checking the display. "What's up, Doc?"

"You just love saying that, don't you?" she replied.

"Guilty as charged."

"I cross-checked the trace evidence with the other ADA," she told me.

"And?"

"Matching dog hairs."

"They both had dog hair on their suits?"

"Uh huh. Same dog."

"But Tuesday's guy was submerged."

"And those pesky hairs don't like to let go. Trust me."

"Okay," I said as I processed the information. "So the killer has a dog."

"Probably. Or someone else does, someone with whom both men came into contact."

"Okay, that's actually good. We'll snag one of Otto's hairs and you can rule him out, right?"

"Well, yes."

"And when we find the real killer, and we match up his dog's hair with the one you found off of both bodies, then that will be definitive evidence."

"Right again, Detective."

"Okay," I said again. "Thanks, Doc."

I hung up and looked at Hayes, who was watching me intently.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who needs a lint brush," I told her. "Our killer is sharing the love."

**

* * *

**

Logan POV

This just wasn't happening.

Not again.

We were supposed to have been protecting this boy.

How could this happen?

I'd asked Liz about Rolando, but she didn't have any additional information

Apparently Jenkins had been the one to go to the scene. She'd just offered to do the autopsy.

But she'd only mentioned one, not two.

"This is her," I muttered as Carolyn drove us to the morgue.

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know, but it's her. She found out that he was talking to us and she killed him."

"Mike, you have to think rationally about this. She's not this omnipotent force that has the ability to cause car wrecks."

"Like she didn't cause a jailhouse brawl? Or she wasn't in control when that boy jumped out of a fifth story window? Or when Sam got mowed down in the street?"

And yeah, I was losing my cool. And to think that I'd been so happy. We were going to close this case and put Watkins behind bars and now…now we were going to ID the body of a fourteen year old boy who had begged for our protection.

"Okay, we'll play it your way," she replied calmly. "She knew he came to see us. How would she know?"

"She had another boy follow him," I suggested.

"And then wait for hours until he left with Rolando? And follow him to the BQE where he then strategically arranged an accident that resulted in Lonnie's death?"

"You want me to say it's impossible? Fine. It's impossible," I agreed petulantly. And then I added, "But it's still true."

She was quiet while my mind raced through last night's events.

How could she have done this?

I had no idea, but damn…she was going to slip away again.

Willie was into the killings, so he'd never turn on her.

And Jesse…Lonnie had said that he didn't like to kill, but he did get off on the stealing. He'd hidden that one statue and taken it to a pawn shop himself. He wanted to save up money for when he aged out.

He wasn't going to talk either.

Lonnie was our best chance.

And now he was dead.

I grunted out my frustration and then I slammed my fist into the dashboard.

And then because it felt good, I did it again.

The plastic beneath the vinyl covering crumpled from the force of my fist.

Carolyn didn't flinch or even say a word. She found a parking spot near the morgue and shut off the engine.

"You'd better give me back that ring," I told her. I could feel my rage pumping out of control and I was almost afraid to even be near her. "And maybe you should let me do this alone."

"Go into the morgue alone? I don't think so. And you don't need that ring, either."

"Carolyn, I'm serious."

"So am I. Mike, look at me."

I continued to stare straight ahead, looking at the broken dashboard.

_I did that. This is what Chesley brings out in me._

"Mike," she said again, and this time I felt her hand on my arm. I was so angry…so upset that every muscle was quivering. I knew she could feel it even through my sleeve. And she'd been witness to what I'd done. I didn't want to look at her and see the disappointment.

"You don't need that ring," she repeated. "You're angry. You're allowed. Hell, I'm angry, too. If I hadn't been driving then I might have been the one to hit that dashboard. But it's an inanimate object and just because you're willing to break it, doesn't mean that you'd ever hurt a human being."

"You can bet your ass I'd love to hurt Chesley Watkins," I muttered.

"Me, too. Does that make me a bad person?"

"No."

"It doesn't make you one, either."

She moved her hand up to my face, urging me to look at her.

"Please look at me," she said softly, and I had to give in.

I had to look because I'd give her just about anything she wanted, so I turned and brought my eyes to hers.

The disappointment that I expected to see wasn't there.

Instead it was determination.

"We _will_ get her," she said firmly, her hand still resting against my cheek. "We won't stop until we do."

I nodded, forcing myself to breathe slowly as I continued to hold her gaze.

"And yes, it's frustrating," she continued. "And any time you want to work out those frustrations, we'll go to the gym. Or the bedroom. Anywhere and anyhow you want to vent, we'll do it. But we'll do it together, okay? And no more talk about you needing that damn ring. You don't need a single thing to make you the wonderful man you are, do you hear me? If you keep that up, you're only going to piss me off, and you do _not_ want to do that."

"No, I don't," I agreed as the vice that had been gripping my chest began to loosen. "Definitely not."

"Good. Then let's go find out what happened to Lonnie. And we're going to keep an open mind. Maybe Chesley _is_ behind it. But it also might just be a tragic accident."

"Okay," I said.

And as much as I couldn't look at her before, now I couldn't look away.

Her eyes were dark brown. Not with flecks of gold or green or anything out of the ordinary. Just a rich, dark brown that held such intelligence and love and resolve…it still amazed me that she was mine.

Was this some kind of cosmic redemption for what I'd had to endure as a child?

Because as horrible as my life had been, now it was equally and conversely wonderful.

On a personal level anyway.

And as long as I had her by my side, I could deal with the professional.

I reached across the console and kissed her. Not on the lips, but on the cheek. I pressed my lips against her smooth skin and held them there for a long moment. She leaned into me and let out a quiet sigh.

"You were wrong before," I said when I finally pulled back and unbuckled my seatbelt.

"What? When?" she said, smiling at my sudden change of mood. I didn't answer right away, but instead got out of the car. She got out and walked around to my side and together we crossed the road.

"I do need something to make me what I am."

"I don't think so," she argued lightly as I held open the door for her.

"I think so."

"Mike, you don't need me to make you wonderful. You do that all by yourself."

She was wrong, but I wasn't going to argue. I'd let her keep her little misconception.

We went down the hall to Liz's autopsy suite and I felt my confidence returning again. I'd been on a damn roller coaster with this case and once again, Carolyn had brought me back. She could deny it forever, but I knew the truth.

"Detectives, I'm sorry to ruin your Saturday. This boy was a suspect?" Liz asked when we went through the doors.

"Sort of. More like a witness," Carolyn said. "He was going to speak out against the other suspects."

"Oh, well…I don't know the whole story, but I can tell you this. Somebody beat the crap out of him before the car accident."

"That was me," Carolyn said. "I mean, I broke his nose. He came up behind me, and…well, I didn't know that he was coming to confess."

"I'd like to say that all he had was a broken nose," Liz replied sadly. "But it was worse than that. Much worse. He's got broken ribs, collapsed lungs, a broken fibula…"

"And the injuries aren't from the wreck?" I questioned as I walked closer to where she still had the body on the table.

"The injuries he sustained were approximately one to two hours pre-mortem. The impact in the accident broke his neck. He died instantly."

He'd been trying to do the right thing and this was the thanks he got for it.

Carolyn circled around to the other side of the table.

"When did the accident happen?"

"It was around eight o'clock this morning."

"Did you find out about the driver?"

"He's apparently in a coma at St. Vincent's."

"This is her," I said quietly, meeting Carolyn's eye across the table. "I don't know how, but it's her."

TBC...


	71. Chapter 71

**Alex POV**

* * *

"Shit, Kevin," I muttered as I pushed back his jacket so that I could assess the damage. "Why didn't you say something?"

Of course, he didn't answer.

He was still out cold.

"Alex!" Bobby called to me again. "You need to get out of there!"

"Kevin's been shot!" I called back. "He's still out!"

There was only the briefest hesitation before he yelled, "I'm coming back in! I'll go around front!"

"No! I'll get him. Give me a minute!"

There was no way I wanted Bobby to try to come through that front door and I could hear the desperation in his voice so I knew it was only a matter of time before he quit waiting for me.

I had to hurry.

With his jacket out of the way, I was easily able to find the damage. The bleeding in the front wasn't too excessive. The entry wound was small and there were black powder burns on his shirt. He must have been hit from extremely close range.

I tipped him onto his side and found the corresponding exit wound. It was slightly larger and was bleeding more than the front, but still at a slow, steady rate.

I couldn't waste time with first aid now. I had to get him outside and then I'd see what could be done to control it.

I grabbed onto him again and hauled him against me. I nearly fell on my butt as his body weight fell into me, but I managed to keep my feet under me. I spun us around so that his back was to the window and then I leveraged him against it.

I felt something pop in my shoulder and I nearly screamed out from the intense pain, but I bit it back.

I knew that if Bobby heard me scream, he'd scale the wall to get back into this room.

So I ignored the agony of my surely re-dislocated shoulder and instead worked on keeping Kevin balanced on the ledge while trying to get his legs out of the window.

"Push him out!" Bobby said. "I'll catch him!"

I wasn't sure how that was going to work because Kevin would be nearly two hundred pounds of dead weight, but I didn't have a choice.

By this time, I had Kevin's butt wedged on the sill and I'd managed to shift him around so that he was now sitting on it, facing outwards. He was leaning backwards, into the room and against my shoulders.

"Are you ready?"

"Do it!"

I gave him a shove, gracelessly throwing my brother out the window, and at the same time, the door finally lost its battle with the raging fire.

I looked back as the flames entered the room at an alarming rate, spreading across the rug and up the walls. The sound and intensity was incredible. The blaze roared as though it was a living entity. It was mesmerizing and I found myself staring at it as the air itself seemed to catch fire.

"Alex!"

I tore my gaze away from the living hell and looked down below.

Kevin was sprawled out on the ground at Bobby's feet.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah! Come on!"

I climbed into the window. Normally, I would've turned and tried to lower myself some of the way down, but I knew there was no way that I could do that with my shoulder in its present condition, so instead, I just jumped.

Bobby caught me, with both arms around me, and he held me close for a long second as he let out a relieved breath. Then he put me on my feet and I saw his eyes settle upon my left arm as I held it protectively against my body.

"He's got a through and through to the stomach," I said, deflecting his attention. My arm may hurt like hell, but Kevin was shot and that took precedence. "It's off to one side though which is good, I think."

"That's good," he agreed as he bent down to scoop up Kevin.

The old man was still sitting on the ground, and was now wheezing excessively, so I helped him to his feet and followed Bobby around the far side of the house.

As we got around to the front, the fire truck came screeching to a halt in front of the house and the ambulance was right behind them.

"Is anyone else in either house?" a fireman asked as he jumped out of the truck.

"No!" I called back. "They're both empty! But there are oxygen tanks in this one," I added, pointing at the house we'd just evacuated.

The paramedics came running towards us and I gratefully let them take over.

They got the old man on an oxygen mask and then they put Kevin on a gurney and into the back of the ambulance.

"Alex!"

I looked out across the road and saw Sean running towards me. Lupo was right on his heels.

"Kevin got shot, but it doesn't look too bad," I told him quickly. "Tomlin's in custody."

"He got…is he okay?" he asked, looking toward the ambulance.

"I think he will be," I said. "Go with him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go. We'll meet you there."

He immediately hopped in the back of the ambulance.

"Where's Tomlin?" Lupo asked.

"In the black and white," Bobby told him.

"I'll take him in and throw him in a cell. He can wait there until you guys are ready to talk to him," Lupo offered.

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Are you guys are okay?"

"Yeah," I said with an unsteady nod.

I mean, I was alive.

We were all alive, so that was good.

**

* * *

**

Bobby POV

Two hours after the incident at Kevin's house, I sat quietly in a chair next to an empty hospital bed.

Alex had reinjured her shoulder.

I'd known it as soon as I set her down outside of the burning house, after she'd not even hesitated to jump ten feet, straight into my arms.

She knew it, too, but she pretended that it was fine. We got help for Kevin and for Mr. Preston and then we'd come to the hospital.

Only she refused to be seen until she was sure that Kevin was going to be okay.

And he was.

In fact, the ER doctor who had seen him initially was pretty sure that surgery wouldn't be necessary.

"We got Tomlin, right?" Kevin asked when he saw Alex and I come into the trauma room.

"Oh, sure, you're awake now," she replied, although I could hear the overwhelming relief in her voice.

"Yeah, about that…"

"It's fine," she said, waving him off. "And yeah, we definitely got him. Lupo took him to 1PP."

"You hurt your arm again," he remarked, focusing on her even as he had the doctor and two nurses poking and prodding at his own injury.

"I'll be fine," she told him.

"Go get it checked out," Sean said. "I'll come find you when we know more."

"Did you call Kendra?"

"She and Dad are on the way," he answered.

"Did you see…" Kevin began hesitantly. "How bad is the house?"

"It doesn't look good," I admitted. Alex moved up next to him and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"It's just a building," she said quietly. "You've got Kendra and the kids. Maybe it's time for a fresh start. Besides, you need more room, don't you?"

Kevin flashed his eyes to mine briefly and then back to Alex.

"I should've known better than to tell a secret to one half of the whole," he said, although he didn't seem too upset.

"More room?" Sean asked. "Kendra's pregnant?"

"Yeah," he answered, and despite the fact that he was nearly out from the pain medication that had been put into his IV, there was no mistaking the pride in his voice. "You've got some catching up to do, little brother."

We left Sean with Kevin and checked in at the desk to get treatment for Alex.

"That thing has got to be killing you," I commented as we found a seat in the waiting room. She sat down beside me and rested her head on my shoulder.

"It is. But I had to make sure that Kevin was okay first."

"Looks like he got lucky. Point blank range…it's a good thing it was small caliber."

"It's still going to take him awhile to recover. And then he may or may not still have a job…he has no place to live…"

"We'll do what we can," I promised.

We finally got called into an exam room.

The doctor set it, _again_, and then he took her down to radiology for another set of x-rays.

If she was lucky, she wouldn't need surgery.

That's what the doctor had said.

"Because bad things happened when a hundred-pound woman with a week-old shoulder injury tries to lift a two-hundred pound man," he'd told her smartly.

"I'll remember that," she'd retorted. "Next time I'll just let my brother burn."

The doctor had looked properly remorseful for his remark and then he'd jerked her arm back into place.

Her only response to the pain had been to close her eyes.

The woman was incredible.

And she'd scared me half to death. I hadn't wanted to go first through that window. I hated the idea that once I went down, there was no going back.

What if she couldn't get out for some reason?

Although the idea that the reason would be because Kevin had been shot and subsequently passed out never crossed my mind.

But still…when she called out to me that he was unconscious, I was so close to running around the house and going through the front door, flames be damned.

But in true Alex fashion, she'd come through.

She'd gotten him through the window and then she'd come down, too. After I put her on her feet, I'd looked back up at the window and I could already see the flames.

That had been much too close.

I let out a heavy sigh and put my hands over my face.

She'd been gone for twenty minutes now and I was anxious to see her. I know…twenty minutes in the grand scheme of things wasn't very much.

But to me, right now, it was a long time.

The only upside to this day was that we'd caught the guy.

Tomlin was currently sitting in a jail cell at 1PP.

And as soon as I was sure that Alex was okay, and wouldn't require surgery to repair the additional damage, I was going down there.

I wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.

I wanted to get him to admit to everything that he'd done. I didn't want Kevin to have to go to trial and explain why he was the target of a serial killer focused on addict firefighters. If Tomlin would confess and plead guilty, then his reason for selecting his victims would be moot.

It was going to be tough enough on Kevin in the upcoming months without the added stress of testifying at Tomlin's trial.

"I've been sprung."

I looked up to see Alex standing in the doorway, as beautiful as ever, and I couldn't help but smile.

"No surgery?" I asked as I got to my feet.

"No, but he threatened to super glue the sling to me if I didn't keep it on for at least three weeks this time."

"Three weeks," I repeated as I carefully wrapped my arms around her. "Are you sure that's what he said?"

"Okay, he might have said four," she admitted as she buried her face against my chest.

"Uh huh. Or maybe six?"

"Four to six. Which really means three."

"I love your interpretation of instructions. How about we let Liz look at it after three and if she gives you the nod, then I'll let you take it off?"

"You'll _let_ me?"

"Uh huh. And if she says no, well…then I'm going to make you keep it on."

"You're feeling pretty brave since I only have one arm, aren't you?"

"I'm feeling…tired. And relieved. And grateful," I whispered as I continued to hold her. "And don't ever ask me again to be the first one to leave a burning building."

"It was the only way."

"I know. But next time we'll find another way."

"Next time," she remarked. "How about we just hope for no more next times? I think I've had my fill of burning buildings."

"That sounds like a good idea to me."

TBC...


	72. Chapter 72

**Bobby POV**

* * *

It was evening by the time Alex and I got back to 1PP.

It had turned into a circus at the hospital and it took us a little while to leave.

Although honestly, I wasn't in that much of a hurry.

Tomlin wasn't going anywhere.

We'd gone back to see Kevin on our way out and we'd learned that they'd admitted him into a room for observation.

They wanted to keep him overnight and make sure that he didn't have any complications, but so far everything looked okay.

Barring any onset of infection, he would most likely be released tomorrow afternoon.

Johnny and Kendra were in the room with him, and Sean was still there, too.

Mary was out gathering up all of their children and had said that she'd be by later with them.

And then Lupo showed up. He'd processed Tomlin and then come to check on us.

"He shouted lawyer before I even got to the station," he told us. "In fact, he shouted almost the whole way there. I finally had to tell him that if he didn't shut up I was going to shoot him."

"So he made his call?"

"Yeah, I'm sure his mouthpiece is there by now."

Mike and Carolyn had come with Lupo because he'd run into them at 1PP so he'd filled them in on what had happened.

And then he'd sent a text Bernard, which meant that he and Hayes stopped by.

So when I say circus, I truly mean _circus_.

But in a good way.

Considering how much worse things could've gone, everyone was in pretty good spirits.

"You two want me to create a diversion so that you can escape?" Mike asked in a mock-whisper, leaning in close to me.

I laughed at his willingness to perpetrate a fraud upon our family and shook my head.

"No, we're all adults here. We'll be honest. We do have a case to wrap up and I don't see us getting any argument from anyone."

"Well, we're all adults except for Hayes," Lupo teased. "What are you, like twelve?"

"Yeah, Lupes. I'm twelve," she retorted. "I don't think you're much older than me, so that would make you about fifteen, right?"

I'm not sure if anyone but me noticed that she'd called him Lupes. Exactly how much time had she and Bernard been spending together?

"He's going to be _forty_," Bernard announced loudly. "Next week."

"I'm sure you can give me plenty of pointers on how to handle getting old, right B.?"

"As much as we'd love to stay and make fun of all of you old-timers, some of us still have work to do," Alex said.

"You're going to talk to Tomlin?" Kevin asked her as the laughter in the room died down.

"We want a confession," I told him with a nod.

"You'll get it," Johnny said confidently. I felt a surge of pride at his quiet compliment.

"I'm coming with you," Sean said. "I'd like to watch. Hayes, are you in?"

"I'd like to, but I have tickets…"

She trailed off and looked at her watch.

"Tickets? Wait, _Knicks_ tickets?" Sean asked her. "You got Knicks tickets? How did you manage that?"

"Ebay," she answered. I felt bad for her because she looked torn between coming with us and going to the game.

"Enjoy the game," I told her. "This won't be the last guy we get to confess. You're welcome to come around any time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Alex picked up. "Ross moved you off of this case anyway, right?"

"Well, yeah," she said uncertainly.

"Take the time while you can get it," Alex told her.

"Or…you can watch the confession and give us the tickets," Mike suggested. "I mean, I like basketball."

"Yeah, me too," Lupo said. "They won't go to waste."

"Leave her alone," Carolyn said. "Alex, we'll catch a ride back with you guys, if that's okay. I wouldn't mind watching. It might be nice to see someone actually catch their bad guy."

"Yeah, what happened with your case?"

"Please do not ask," Mike said, shaking his head.

We finally said our goodbyes and left the hospital. Carolyn and Mike rode with back with us, along with Sean.

"Okay, now I'm asking," Alex said as I drove us to 1PP.

It was going to kill Alex not to be behind the wheel, but she was going to have to get used to it. At least for the next few days while she was still on painkillers.

"One of the suspects came to our house last night. He wanted to turn himself in and make statements against the others."

"Well, that's good, right?"

"It was good," Mike said. "Until he got the crap beat out of him and then killed in a car wreck."

"He got killed after he left your house?"

"Uh huh," Carolyn said with a nod. "He was fourteen."

"Someone beat him up?" Sean asked.

"You suspect Watkins," I stated.

"We know it's her," Mike agreed. "I knew it was her the minute I heard about it, and then after we did some research today…well, let's just say that any lingering doubt is gone. But once again, we have no proof."

"What did you find?"

"The Child Services worker," Carolyn said. "We called them last night to get a temporary guardian assigned to Lonnie because of his age. He came out to our house, and after we talked, he said he was taking Lonnie to a hotel in Queens."

"But he didn't?"

"He called Chesley. Turns out he's another one of her success stories," Mike said bitterly. "He was her foster son twenty years ago. He's the reason that her home was opened up to more children."

"He'd flagged the boys' files," Carolyn added. "He wanted to know whenever one of his colleagues accessed their information so that he could report back."

"So he was ready to volunteer his services when you called for help," I said.

"Uh huh. And I bought it. Hook, line and sinker," Mike said. "It never once occurred to me that he wasn't on the up and up."

"We bought it," Carolyn corrected.

"Why wouldn't you?" Alex said. "He was a licensed Child Services worker."

"Who was committed to doing her bidding," Mike finished. "And he was willing to die for her. He was in a coma for most of the morning, but he died a few hours ago."

"Is he the one who did the beating?" Sean questioned.

"It doesn't look like it. We went to see Rolando. His hands were undamaged. Liz said the bruising on Lonnie looked to be from fists."

"So you find the person with the busted knuckles…"

"My money's on Willie. He's the oldest, and Lonnie said he enjoyed the violence. Rolando reported back to Watkins…she sent Willie to meet up with them, probably had him beat Lonnie until he admitted what he'd told us…and then Rolando came to a dead stop, sideways in the middle of the BQE."

"Let us wrap this up and then we'll talk to Ross about jumping on board with you two," I offered.

"There might not be much to investigate. We've initiated an investigation with Child Services. They apparently love Rolando and they weren't thrilled about investigating one of their own, but supposedly, as we speak, they're pulling every record that Rolando ever touched. They also agreed to re-evaluate Chesley's fitness to be a foster mother."

"She'll lose the boys?"

"Yeah, but if you knew her…you'd know. She never really loses them. Even out of her home, they'll keep doing her bidding. Rolando's the perfect example of that. Twenty years later and he was still willing to make the ultimate sacrifice."

We arrived at 1PP and went up to the eleventh floor. Alex called to make the arrangements to have Tomlin brought into an interrogation room.

"Hey, how come you guys let Hayes off the hook?" Sean asked as we waited in the squad room.

"It's not her case any more."

"Lupo's not here," he pointed out. "And he swapped with her. One of them should be here."

"Lupo is here," I corrected, nodding in the direction of the elevator. Lupo had just gotten off and was headed towards us. He had Connie with him.

"Okay, so fine, but still…"

"She obviously has a date," Alex said. "And this isn't her case. She'll have plenty of dates ruined by cases that are hers. No sense making her miss out for a case that isn't."

"Hayes has a date?" Connie asked.

"She got tickets to a Knicks game," Lupo told her.

"Really," she remarked with a smile. "I wonder who we know who likes basketball."

"Besides," Alex continued, still talking to Sean. "She's officially on the zoo murders now."

"Yeah, and how's that going to work? I have to go back to the 2-7 without a partner?"

"Maybe Ross will switch us back. I have a solid alibi for the time of death on Gingrich. And Bernard mentioned something about the killer having a dog, too. He went by and got a hair from Otto to rule him out. I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear."

"I don't think she's going to be in any hurry to switch back," Carolyn remarked, looking smugly at Mike.

"You're crazy, sweetheart."

"I don't think so. And you're still going down."

"Not in any hurry?" Sean questioned. "Why? Do you think she's still pissed at me for that thing last week? I apologized for that."

Carolyn stared at Sean for a moment and then shook her head and looked at Alex.

"Are you sure he's not adopted?" she asked her.

"I've been asking my mom that for years," Alex replied with a grin.

Sean started to speak out in protest, but that was when an officer came through the squad room with Tomlin.

All of us fell silent as we watched him being led through the room and down the hall to an interrogation room.

"Are you ready?" I asked Alex.

"Uh huh," she said with a slow nod.

"Is there a wager on the table?" Mike asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Alex fired back.

"Yes. I would."

"What kind of wager?" Sean asked.

Alex quirked her eyebrow at me.

"Full confession. To everything," she said.

"Fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen?" Sean practically shouted. "No way. You're going to have to sweat him. He's not just going to come out and tell you what he did."

"Take notes, Sean. Maybe you'll learn something."

"Two hours," he countered. "At least."

Suddenly Alex and I were on the same team instead of betting against each other. Although, with our kind of bets it was never really a competition, but still…

"Loser buys dinner," she told him.

"Wait, so I lose if it's anything less than two hours?"

"No. We lose if it's anything more than fifteen minutes."

"Deal."

Fun and games time was over.

Now we had to get down to business.

Together, the two of us went down the hall, with the others not far behind, heading for the observation room.

"Stupid bet, Eames," I heard Mike say.

"I know he's good," Sean admitted. "But no way he's that good."

"Maybe, maybe not," Mike agreed. "But _they_ are."

TBC...


	73. Chapter 73

**Alex POV **

* * *

As soon as we entered the room, I shoved everything else from my mind.

The audience behind the glass.

The throbbing pain in my shoulder.

The fact that my brother's house had been gutted by fire.

Everything.

Because I had to focus on Tomlin.

We had plenty of evidence on him.

He was most definitely going down for his crimes.

But how easily would he go down was the question.

Would he drag the reputation of every fire fighter at the department through the mud?

Would he recount stories of running into Kevin in that alley in Hell's Kitchen, buying drugs when he was supposed to be on duty?

And no, I didn't want to sweep it all under the rug.

Kevin would have to face serious repercussions for what he'd done, as would the other firemen who'd had a momentary lapse in judgment.

But that didn't need to be a public persecution.

That should be handled internally.

"My client says that you threatened to shoot him," the lawyer said as soon as Bobby closed the door.

"Did he also tell you that he set a house on fire?" I replied, pulling out the chair to sit across from our killer and his lawyer. "And that he shot a man? And then he tried to escape arrest?"

"I didn't set a house on fire," Tomlin spoke up. "It was a _garage_."

"It's nice to know that you're not going to deny it," I replied.

"It was an accident," he said with a smile.

"Uh huh. The ten gallons of gasoline you spread throughout the garage...that was an accident, too?"

"What can I say? I'm clumsy."

"And short-sighted," Bobby spoke up. "You just admitted to being in that garage."

"Are you gonna charge me with trespassing, Officer?"

"No, we're going to charge you with…wait, let me make sure I don't miss anything," I said as I flipped open the file folder. "Five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of grand larceny, stalking, breaking and entering…is that everything, Detective Goren?"

"Don't forget assault," he added, running his hand along his jawline. "That was a nice little kick, by the way. I think I feel a bruise coming on. Juries always love to see physical evidence of the suspect resisting arrest."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out," he replied, leaning back in his chair.

He was much too smug for my liking.

"If you've got all of this evidence," his lawyer said. "Then what's the point of this exercise? Just take it to the DA."

"We wanted to give him a chance to confess first," I said. "You know the drill. The DA's always go a lot easier on defendants who admit to what they did. If this thing goes to trial, your client is looking at multiple life sentences."

"I don't care about that," Tomlin said.

"You want to spend the rest of your life in prison?"

"I had a feeling it would come to this."

I caught Bobby's eye and silently conveyed my concern.

This was exactly what we _didn't_ want.

We didn't want a lengthy trial where sins were revealed to anxiously awaiting reporters in the gallery.

"Okay," Bobby said with a nod, although he continued to look at me. "Okay, fine. We'll take this to trial."

Then he leaned over and began rummaging through the papers in the file.

I wasn't sure where he was headed, but I moved out of his way so that he had full access.

He found what he was looking for and pulled it out.

"I just want to go over a few things with you first, and then we'll get you back to your cell," he told him. "First off…how did it feel to flunk out of firefighter school?"

**

* * *

**

Logan POV

"Ouch," I said with a grin when Bobby asked Tomlin about flunking out.

"It's been five minutes already," Sean pointed out. "Tomlin's not going to cop to anything. He wants his fifteen minutes of fame."

"Exactly," Carolyn agreed. "Which is why this is going to work."

"I don't get it."

"You will," I told him. "Now shut up. I want to hear this."

"What did I miss?" Ross asked as he came into the room.

"He's pushing his buttons," Lupo said.

"He's good at that," Ross replied with a smirk.

"Hey, guys," I said in annoyance. "I'd like to hear this, if you don't mind."

"You're just missing his colorful vocabulary at the moment," Connie said. She was standing closest to the speaker and had apparently been tuning out the conversation in our room in favor of hearing Tomlin's response.

"Turn it up," Ross told her. She cranked the dial until it was as if they were all sitting here in the room with us.

"…_**so get your fucking facts straight, okay?"**_ Tomlin finished.

"_**So straighten them for us,"**_ Bobby countered. "_**You didn't fail?"**_

"_**That's funny, because if you didn't fail, then why aren't you assigned to a ladder company?" **_Alex added.

"_**Look, it's not like that. I did everything right. Everything. And that self-righteous bastard flunked me anyway. He had no right."**_

"_**Sabin,"**_ Bobby stated. _**"He's who started all of this, right? Because you were just minding your own business, getting the job done, and then suddenly he writes you up for drugs."**_

"_**He had no right to ruin my life over something like that."**_

"_**But it wasn't just drugs,"**_ Bobby said. _**"I've read Sabin's notes. He stated that you were…let me see. Here it is. Rayburn – that's you, by the way. We figured out your crafty little alias. Anyway, it says **_**Rayburn is physically incapable of fulfilling the rigorous duties as a member of the FDNY and additionally this instructor has serious doubts as to his ability to function effectively in a crisis situation**_**."**_

"_**That had to hurt a little,"**_ Alex said. _**"He may as well have said you're completely incompetent."**_

"That wasn't in the file," Sean said.

"No kidding," I said wryly.

"_**Wait, he didn't say that," **_Tomlin argued, echoing Sean's statement. _**"I got kicked out for drugs. I was the best damn student to go through that school."**_

"_**No, see, you weren't," **_Alex replied. _**"And Sabin documented your shortcomings."**_

"_**But I can see why you'd blame it on the drugs,"**_ Bobby said. _**"I mean, it's like a crutch. You **_**could've**_** been successful…you **_**could've**_** become one of New York's Bravest. You **_**could've**_**…but Sabin caught you with pills. So it's all his fault, right? And then when you saw other firemen buying drugs, it just ate you up, didn't it? Because that could've been you. It should've been you."**_

"_**You're damn right it should've been me! Sabin had no right…"**_

"_**But it wasn't the drugs," **_Alex pointed out. _**"It was **_**you**_**."**_

Carolyn's phone rang and I shifted my focus to her for a moment as she slipped to the back of the room to answer it.

"Logan. Uh huh. What? Okay, yes. Do that right away and call me back."

"What is it?" I asked her quietly.

"They finished looking at Rolando's car," she said.

"And?"

"They pulled blood from the grill."

I let her words sink in as I held her gaze. She smiled slowly and nodded her head.

"This could be it," she said. "If it matches Sam…"

"You've got the lab checking on that?"

"Oh yeah. They're going to call me back as soon as they know."

So Rolando had killed Sam?

This was huge.

Because even though Child Services was looking into Rolando's performance, they didn't really believe at this point that he'd done anything wrong. They were still working on the assumption that it was all coincidental.

They'd refused us access to his phone records and his computer. They insisted on keeping the investigation an internal one.

But if we could prove that he killed Sam, then we could get a warrant for those records.

And I just knew that if we could pull his phone logs, there would be calls to Chesley Watkins.

And since he hadn't been the employee assigned to her, there should've been no reason for him to call her.

_And_ depending on the timing of the calls, it might give us enough evidence to get a warrant for _her_ records.

It was a house of cards, and a feeling of excitement rolled through me at the prospect of its collapse.

"Holy shit, they're going to do it," Sean said, drawing my attention back to the interrogation room.

I chuckled at him as Carolyn and I moved back to the window.

"Of course they're going to do it," I said.

"_**But I needed to prove that he was wrong!"**_ Tomlin shouted. _**"Sabin was wrong to keep me out!"**_

"_**And you showed that by killing other firefighters? What did that prove?"**_

"_**That I'm better than them. And I **_**am**_** better. Those guys were pathetic…they followed me willingly on the promise of drugs. Some kind of heroes, huh? They don't belong in the department. They don't deserve it. I belong there. Me, not them." **_

"_**You belong in prison,"**_ Alex retorted. _**"What did you think, that if you killed enough of them they'd have to lower their standards and hire you? You were a washout, Tomlin. It was never going to happen."**_

"_**Maybe not. But I wanted everyone to see their true colors. They were nothing but a bunch of addicts. Dominick, Luke…"**_

"_**What about **__**Johnson? He wasn't a fireman. He was just a dealer and he never pretended to be anything else."**_

"_**He wouldn't give me the book. I had to find out."**_

"_**You wanted to know who was buying drugs from him?"**_

"_**Yeah, and he wouldn't give it to me. It was his fault."**_

"_**What about Nessman?"**_

"_**He was your fault. Everyone was being so goddamn careful."**_

"_**Is any of this your fault?"**_

"_**Sure. It's my fault for getting caught. I should've just shot Eames when I had the chance. Instead I wanted to prove a point."**_

"_**I'd say you did. You proved that he's better than you,"**_ Alex said firmly.

"_**I don't think that's what the papers will say when this thing goes to trial," **_he argued.

"They lost him," Sean muttered. "He's not going to agree to any kind of plea."

"Yes he is," Ross said.

"_**You want to know what the papers are going to say? Hero firefighter who was targeted by a psycho serial killer rescued his elderly neighbor."**_

"_**Psycho? I'm not psycho. And I'm not a serial killer."**_

"_**You're not a serial killer?" **_Alex said, letting out a snort of disbelief. She turned to Bobby. _**"Tell me again how many people he killed?"**_

"_**Let's see…at least five. Yeah, that definitely qualifies as a serial killer."**_

"_**And only a psychopath would be able to convince himself that this kind of objective was normal."**_

"_**She's right,"**_ Bobby said with a nod. _**"They'll be making Kevin Eames into the hero. Hell, he is the hero. He ignored his own injury, a gunshot wound to the stomach, and ran headlong into a burning building to save an old man."**_

"_**But when I tell them why…everyone will know. Everyone will understand!"**_

"_**Everyone will find out that you're just a wannabe. A failure. That'll be what they call you. Malcolm Rayburn, FDNY reject. The guy who took revenge on the agency who said he wasn't good enough."**_

"_**On the other hand, if you agree to a plea, then Sabin's records don't have to come out."**_

"_**They won't?"**_

"_**If the prosecutor doesn't have to prove motive, then there's no need. All you have to do is admit to your crimes."**_

"_**Let's talk about this," **_the lawyer said to Tomlin. _**"Don't agree to anything yet."**_

"_**What kind of deal is on the table?"**_

"_**We'll bring in an ADA and see what can be done."**_

"_**So if I don't talk about the drugs, then you don't talk about Sabin's report?"**_

"_**That's right."**_

"_**Okay. Get the ADA. I'm ready to deal."**_

"I think that's my cue," Connie remarked as she headed for the door.

"And…fourteen minutes and thirty seconds," I stated with a grin. "Sean, where are we going for dinner?"

Carolyn's phone rang again and she quickly answered it.

"Something going on with your case?" Ross asked me.

"I hope so. We were dead in the water earlier, but maybe…"

Carolyn hung up and looked at me.

"It's a match. Sam Saelens' blood is on the grill of Rolando's car."

"The Child Services guy?" Ross asked. "He killed one of the kids?"

"Looks like it," I said with a nod, still looking at Carolyn. "So now we can get those records."

"Want to make another bet, Sean?" Carolyn asked.

I could feel the adrenaline start to roll through me as the prospect of closing this case became real. Carolyn could feel it, too, and my excitement fed off of hers.

We were going to get her.

_This was it_.

"With you two?" he asked. "You're going to get a confession on your guy, too?"

"Girl," she corrected. "And I don't care if she confesses. In fact, a long drawn-out trial that details every despicable thing she's ever done would be perfectly fine with me."

"So what's the bet?"

"This time tomorrow, Chesley Watkins will be behind bars."

TBC...


	74. Chapter 74

**Bernard POV**

* * *

I'd decided to quit thinking so much about where Hayes and I were going.

Instead I was just going to _go_.

All of my analyzing was just making me nervous and uncomfortable.

I needed to ride it out and quit worrying so much.

The basketball game was a lot of fun.

And she knew a lot about the game, which surprised me.

Maybe I'd stereotyped her.

Probably because I didn't know very many women who actually enjoyed watching sports.

Most of the women I'd dated might pretend to enjoy them, but they didn't really understand them. Hayes definitely knew her stuff.

"You want to get something to eat?" she asked me when we got back to the car.

It was late, but I wasn't ready for the night to be over so I was glad that she'd suggested it.

"Sure," I agreed. "Where do you want to go?"

"There's a place near my apartment that has a really good house band on Saturday nights. If you like that kind of thing."

"Blues?" I asked hopefully, knowing her taste in music.

"Uh huh," she said with an easy smile.

And there it was again.

That same damn feeling.

She looked so beautiful that it threw my concentration.

It had been even worse when I'd picked her up.

I'd gotten there a few minutes early, but she was ready. She'd thrown open the door and smiled at me and for a moment, I was completely tongue-tied.

When had I lost my ability to speak to women?

I may not have always been the guy who gets the girl, but I'd certainly never had any trouble talking.

And it wasn't like she'd dressed up for me or anything. I mean, we were going to a basketball game, so she wasn't wearing anything special.

Jeans and a red blouse.

But the rich color provided a nice contrast to her dark hair, which she'd once again left down, and the blouse was unbuttoned slightly lower than I'd seen her do in the past.

Not too low, but low enough to get my attention.

And she was wearing perfume.

I couldn't put my finger on the exact scent, but it made me want to get closer so that I could…better evaluate it.

It was something different than her usual scent. Something dangerously intoxicating.

And that's probably a _really_ bad thing that I knew what she smelled like, but…what can I say? Being observant is what I do.

Because surely the fact that I'd noticed was only because I'm a detective and had nothing to do with the fact that I was completely infatuated with her.

I wanted to tell her that she was beautiful.

Especially after her remark in the car yesterday, I wanted her to know that I had absolutely, without a doubt, noticed that she was a woman.

I'd wanted to say it that first moment when she opened the door and the thought had crossed my mind again no less than two dozen times over the course of the evening.

But I didn't want to blow this tenuous thing that we had. This friendship. If she knew how much I thought about her, it would probably creep her out.

So I kept my mouth shut.

But that didn't mean I wasn't going to jump on the opportunity to spend more time with her.

Like I said, I'm a masochist. One of these days, she was going to get up the nerve to ask out that mystery man and then I'd be devastated.

But I didn't want to think about that right now.

"That sounds perfect," I replied.

And it was. The restaurant was dark and atmospheric, and we sat together at a little corner table for two.

We shared a plate of oysters and went through a pitcher of beer as we listened to the surprisingly good band deliver Chicago-style blues.

"Aren't they great?" she asked when the band took a break.

"Yeah, but your Midwest is showing," I teased.

"That was the best thing about Chicago," she said. "Well, the music and the pizza. St. Paul didn't have much along the lines of blues. Although they did do this pretty cool jazz festival every year."

"Have you been back?"

"To St. Paul?"

"Or Chicago."

"Nope. And I have no plan to," she said firmly. "So, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

Ross had sent us each a text earlier to let us know that she'd keep working with me until the end of the case. He was going to let Sean and Lupo stay together, and then when we wrapped up our murder, I would jump into whatever Lupo was working on and she and Sean would go back to the 2-7.

I didn't want to think about that. And I knew that made no sense. I'd known her less than two weeks and I was already dreading not getting to see her every day.

It made me desperate to solidify our friendship now, while I had the excuse to be with her, so that when she left 1PP it wouldn't seem weird if I called her.

"Ross said that we should take the day tomorrow and then start fresh on Monday. We'll have to go back to square one and pull up everything we can on both victims so that we can cross-check and find out what they have in common."

"You mean besides working at the DA's office?"

"Right. But it could just be that, too. We'll have to go through both of their case histories."

"Sounds like a fun day," she quipped. "So what are you going to do with your day off tomorrow?"

"Clean, I guess. Although that probably won't take long. It's just me, so it doesn't really get very dirty."

"You make all of your lady friends clean up after themselves, huh?"

"My lady friends?" I said, nearly choking on my drink. "Are you calling me a player?"

"Aren't you?" she asked with a smirk.

"I hate to break it to you, Hayes, but you're the closest thing to a lady friend that I have at the moment. And you haven't even been in my place yet."

The _yet_ had come without approval from my brain, but she didn't notice.

"Yet," she remarked. Okay, so she _did_ notice. "Is that an invitation?"

"You want to see where I live?"

"I'll admit to some curiosity," she answered. The ambiguity of her statement had me baffled. Curious why?

And then I reminded myself just go with it.

"I'll be sure to invite you some time. So what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"I have got to get some groceries. My refrigerator is getting pretty bare."

She said the statement with such disdain that she had me laughing again.

"I take it you don't enjoy shopping."

"Definitely not. For some reason the market is worse than a night club. The last time I was in there, this guy came up to me and poured on the cheesiest line…"

"You got hit on?"

"Yeah, well believe it or not, some guys do actually find me attractive," she teased, tossing my words back at me from the other night.

"It's shocking," I joked. "What did he say?"

"Maybe you should write it down or something. You might want to use it some time," she said with a smile. "You know, since you're down on your luck with the ladies."

The band started playing again, so she leaned in close to continue our conversation. I was suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that her entire side was pressed against mine.

"On second thought, maybe not," she continued. "I mean, I wouldn't want to be responsible for you hooking up with the wrong kind of woman."

"I have better taste than that," I promised.

"You do, don't you? I mean, you could've had that girl the other night. Twice, actually. Most guys would've jumped at the chance for meaningless sex."

"I'm not most guys."

"No, you're not."

She looked at me for a moment and then picked up her beer.

I figured that she had decided to let the subject drop, but then she turned back to me, suddenly serious, and said, "Are you a parking ticket?"

"Am I…what?"

She carefully let her eyes roam over me and then brought them back up to meet mine. The deliberate gesture had me holding my breath.

"Because you have got _fine_ written all over you."

I was completely lost for a split second and then I got it.

The cheesy pickup line.

I burst out laughing and so did she.

"Are you serious? That was the line?"

"Can you believe that ever works for anyone?"

"That is about the worst one I've ever heard," I agreed.

"Oh come on," she said. "I bet you've used some good ones."

"I don't need to use lines," I argued lightly.

"I bet you don't," she agreed.

"Although, I haven't had a date in a couple of months, so maybe I should brush up," I admitted.

"A couple of months?" she asked.

"Uh huh," I said with a nod. "And that ended…badly, so yeah. I think I might need help. What else have you got?"

"More lines? Um…let's see," she said thoughtfully, and then she turned her eyes to me again and said, "Do you believe in love at first sight? Or do I need to walk past you again?"

"That's a classic," I said with a grin. "I've actually used that one."

"Really?'

"No," I said, unable to keep from laughing.

"Okay, your turn."

"Your feet must be tired because you've been running through my mind all day."

"Oh, I like that one. That's a new one. You know, I think that one might actually work on me."

"Yeah?"

"No," she teased, leaning into me as she chuckled and shook her head. "You know, I don't know why people think they need that kind of thing. It's so much better to just be honest, don't you think?"

"Absolutely."

"I mean, a connection is either there or it isn't. And sure, sometimes people are just looking for sex, but still…if that's what you want, just say it. All of the game-playing and maneuvering…it's just not my thing," she said. And then she added self-consciously, "Of course, maybe that's why I'm still single."

We ended up closing the place down.

It was honestly the best time I'd had since…well, since I don't know when. Ever, maybe.

"Next time, I'll take you to this other place I found. It's a little bigger, and they have a dance floor."

Next time. I really liked the sound of that.

And it was probably a bad idea for me to spend so much time with her because it meant that I wouldn't find a real girlfriend and I'd surely get dumped as soon as she found a real boyfriend, but somehow I was okay with that.

"You like to dance?" I asked as I drove us back to her place.

"I love to dance. I haven't been in a while, but that's because I haven't had a date in forever and I hate going to those places by myself."

"No girl friends?"

"I've never really done well with girl friends," she admitted. "It's…a long story."

By this time, I'd pulled up in front of her building, but there were no parking spaces.

"You don't have to walk me up," she said. "It'll take you an hour to find a spot."

"I don't mind," I told her.

"Such a gentleman," she said with a smile. "But no, it's fine, really. Just pull over right there," she said, directing me to park in front of a hydrant.

I eased the car to a stop but left the engine running. And I suddenly felt extremely awkward.

"Thanks," I said. "For the game. And afterwards. I had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, me, too," she said as she shifted in her seat so that she was facing me. "You're a nice guy, B."

A couldn't stop the smile at the sound of her calling me B.

It was crazy, I know.

But I liked it.

And while I sat there and smiled at her, she leaned in and kissed me.

I realized it was coming a second before her lips met mine, and I idly wondered if she'd had more to drink than I realized, but then my brain shut down completely as my instincts took over.

I moved closer to her, as much as the console would allow, and then put my hands on her face, moving the kiss past this side of innocent.

She hummed her approval and set her hand on my thigh.

I could feel the heat of it and that combined with the heady smell of her perfume was crushing my self-control.

This was pure torture. Wonderful, sensuous, arousing torture.

I had no idea why she was kissing me.

But since she was, and since I had the opportunity, I moved one hand into her hair, working my fingers into the strands and then holding on.

She changed the angle again and shifted her hand higher on my thigh and I was completely lost.

So far, I hadn't let myself imagine what it would be like to kiss her.

But if I had, I was quite sure I would've underestimated her expertise.

This was too much.

I had to stop.

But I didn't.

Instead, we both let it go on for quite some time until she finally pulled back.

Both of us were breathing heavily, and my mind was scrambling to know the right thing to say, but she still had her hand on my thigh and those eyes were poring into mine, and…

"Hayes," I said at last, although I wasn't sure what came next.

I had to give her the chance to back off. We'd been drinking and we'd spent time in a romantic atmosphere and she was lonely…she was just projecting.

But on the inside, I was still hopeful.

"I know. I'm sorry. Sometimes I just act without thinking," she admitted.

And there it was.

It had been a response to our evening rather than an interest in me.

I eased my hand from her hair and settled back into my seat.

"I understand," I said carefully.

"Do you?" she asked. She moved her hand up to my cheek, turning my face back towards her.

And she was close…so close. I was desperate for her to kiss me again, even knowing that it didn't mean anything to her.

I mean, hell, it wouldn't be the first time I'd been used.

But I couldn't do it.

I liked her too much. It would _hurt_ too much.

"We can't be doing this," I stated.

"Because we're partners," she said with a nod. "I know. But that's only temporary."

"Not because we're partners. Because I'm not who you want."

"You're…what?" she asked in confusion. "Says who?"

"It's okay," I told her.

"No, it's not okay. You're going to tell me who I want?"

By this point, she was no longer touching me.

And she seemed really ticked off.

"Lupo…"

And I didn't really mean to say that she was interested _specifically_ in Lupo, but rather someone _like_ him.

But she didn't give me the chance to say anything more.

"Oh my God, are you kidding me?" she yelled in frustration. "Lupo? I never said a damn word about Lupo! Eames pulled that out of thin air and then he ran with it. All I said was that I was interested in someone at 1PP, but I never gave him a name. I never even gave him a _hint_ of a name because somehow gossip always seems to follow me wherever I go, and I didn't want that this time. I wanted to get to know _you_ and find out if my first impression was right."

She paused for a moment, her eyes flashing with anger and annoyance and…something else.

Me, I was still hung up on her last sentence.

But she didn't give my brain a chance to recover before she leaned in close again, and said, "If I was so hell-bent on Lupo, would I be doing this with you?"

And then she kissed me again.

And damn, if I thought the first one was good…it paled in comparison to what she was doing now.

And maybe it was because the possibility was slowly rolling through my head that maybe, _maybe_ she was interested in me after all.

It was over all too quickly.

She pulled back and looked at me, her gaze shifting from my eyes to my mouth and then back up again.

"Maybe you're right about not doing this while we're partners. That's fine, I'll give you that. But as soon as we finish this case, and I go back to the 2-7, we're going to talk about this again," she said hotly.

Because yeah, she was still ticked.

And I was still speechless.

"I like you, B.," she said, her voice finally softening. "And I think you like me, too."

Her words were bold and brave, but there was some uncertainty there.

_Of course she's not sure, you idiot_, I chastised myself. _You haven't said a damn word other than to accuse her of liking someone else._

So I reached for her, running my hand down her hair, letting the strands fall through my fingers.

And then I moved my hand to the back of her head and this time I kissed her.

I had the console digging into my hip and my foot was slipping off the brake pedal, but I didn't care. I didn't care if the car rolled right into the fire hydrant.

Okay, maybe I did care a little because when I felt the car start to roll, I made myself stop.

I moved away from her just enough so that I could push on the brake again.

"Yeah, it probably wouldn't be good if we had to explain to the chief why we let the car roll over a hydrant, would it?" she said with a grin.

"No," I agreed, smiling and shaking my head.

"I'd better go," she said reluctantly.

"I know. I had fun tonight."

"Me, too."

"But I'm going to pretend that this night didn't happen until after you go back to the 2-7," I added. "I've been distracted enough being partnered with you. I can't let it get worse."

"You've been distracted?" she asked, obviously pleased with that possibility.

"You could say that."

"Good. So have I. So let's catch this killer and see what happens next, okay?"

"Maybe we shouldn't take tomorrow off. Maybe we need to work this thing twenty-four seven until we catch him," I suggested wryly. "I'm sure Ross won't mind."

"You know, I think you're right. Pick me up at eight?"

"Seven. Let's get an early start."

TBC...


	75. Chapter 75

**A/N: I borrowed a tiny bit (blink and you miss it) of a scene from a BA episode that does not exist in this world (season 8) so don't shoot me - I thought it fit for MC.**

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* * *

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Carolyn POV

* * *

It was so unbelievably gratifying.

It was better than sex.

"Okay, maybe not better than sex with _Mike_," I clarified after my declaration brought about a faked look of hurt from my husband. "But you have to admit it. It feels pretty good."

"Yes it does," he agreed, as he settled his arm across my shoulders and hugged me to him.

He had a huge smile on his face, the biggest one I'd seen since this case fell back into our laps.

I'd missed that smile.

And I was so happy to have been able to help him finally get that monkey off his back.

It was Sunday evening.

We were sitting in McNally's with Bobby and Alex.

And just like I'd told Sean, Chesley Watkins was presently behind bars.

Her whole scheme had been like an elaborate game of Mousetrap.

Once we got the records from Rolando's work phone, we started the ball rolling.

Chesley had started calling him on the same day that Mike and I had first gone to her house. She'd probably warned him that she might need his help. Subsequent calls had coincided with our visits to her, as well as with the murders.

She had also placed a call to him an hour before Sam was killed. Rolando had clocked out within ten minutes of receiving that call, claiming a need to take an early lunch. He'd come back nearly two hours later and had immediately called Chesley's number.

This past Friday night, there was a call from his home to the office, presumably when he realized that Lonnie's file was accessed. His co-worker confirmed that he'd called to offer his assistance.

An assignment of emergency guardianship was not a sought-after duty, especially late on a weekend night, so his offer was accepted immediately.

And then he'd called Chesley.

The suspicious timing of his calls to her allowed us access into Chesley's life.

We got her phone records.

Chesley received a call from a payphone that was a mile away from our house, and the call had gone through within ten minutes of Rolando leaving with Lonnie.

We got her financial records.

We'd spent a considerable amount of time sifting through them. She'd changed accounts many times over the years and used multiple banks with various types of accounts.

Following the trail was like navigating a maze, but I managed to find where one time, six years ago, she'd paid for a storage unit by check.

That had been before the first murders, but it was worth a look-see.

And boy was it ever worth the look-see.

On the surface, the storage unit was just that.

It was actually quite similar to the one that I kept, although mine was paid for by check every time. Because I wanted a record of having paid. Most normal people didn't mind a paper trail which documented their transactions. In fact, they preferred it.

But Chesley was anything but normal.

And after we searched through the multitude of boxes and furniture, we found her stash.

The items stolen from the homes of the murder victims five years ago.

But nothing from the recent ones, so we kept looking.

We executed a search warrant on her home. The boys had been removed from the home pending the result of the Child Services investigation so Chesley was home alone.

"It's all over," I'd told her with a smile when she opened the door. "Maybe if you're lucky, your jail cell will have Tiffany lamps."

"I don't plan on spending any time in a jail cell," she'd retorted.

"Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans," Mike remarked.

"You have no right to be here."

"The state of New York says differently," I said as I waved the warrant in front of her face.

Gloating wasn't normally my style, but it was today.

We took great pleasure in analyzing every inch of her home.

Mike and I split up as we looked for incriminating evidence.

Chesley followed me around.

I didn't mind.

Better me than Mike.

"Haven't been getting much sleep lately, have you?" she said to me. "You look like you've been ridden hard and put away wet, Detective. Something keeping you up at night?"

"I sleep like a baby," I lied. Although it wouldn't be a lie tonight.

"Oh, well then it must be your guilty conscience that makes you look like that. Being married to a killer isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it?"

"My conscience is clear," I replied vaguely as I looked through a hall closet. "Is yours?"

"Crystal. I help save young lives. You're the one who destroys them. How many people have you killed, Detective? I know your partner has blood on his hands. Do you?"

I had a lot of blood on my hands.

But they were all murderers. I could live with that.

"Are these your things?" I asked her, ignoring her questions.

"Everything in this house is mine."

"Everything? The boys don't have their own possessions?"

"They come to me with nothing."

"You haven't given them anything?"

"They have what they need while they're here. When they leave this house, they'll find their own way."

"Hey, Mike!" I called out.

"Detective, where are your manners? A lady doesn't shout from one room to another. You know, you might have benefitted from spending some time with me during your formative years."

"Yeah, but you don't like girls, do you? They don't listen to their mothers quite as well as boys."

"True," she agreed.

"Except Lonnie. He didn't listen to you either, did he? You thought you had him brainwashed, but maybe you're slipping in your old age."

She scoffed at me but didn't reply.

"What did you find?" Mike asked as he joined us in the hall.

"Tell me, Detective Logan. Did you ever forgive your mother?" Chesley asked him. "You said that you did, but did you? Truly? Because surely you realize that you owe her a debt of gratitude."

"Golf clubs," I told Mike, bringing his attention to me. "Remember what Lonnie said? And Ms. Watkins here just stated that these belong to her."

He broke out into a grin because even though they appeared mostly clean, the lines and groves in the head of the drivers would surely still contain trace evidence.

"Let's get these to the lab."

"What is it that you hope to find on a set of golf clubs?"

"The blood of the Flynt family," I told her. "Didn't Willie tell you about his murder weapon of choice?"

Apparently he hadn't.

So now we could tie her to the old murders and the new ones.

"Turn around," I directed Chesley.

"For what?"

"We're placing you under arrest."

"You'd better have more evidence against me than a set of golf clubs, Detective, or I'll be filing my harassment suit first thing in the morning."

I desperately wanted her to resist.

I wanted to hurt her as badly as she'd hurt Mike.

But it just didn't work like that. She was pliant and impervious to insults.

But that didn't mean I couldn't make the process as humiliating as possible.

"Please turn around and face the wall."

"Is this really necessary?"

"Yes," I said as I grabbed onto her arm and turned her around. I pushed, not as hard as I would've liked, but still a push, until her face was up against the wall.

I roughly pulled her hands behind her back. As I reached for my cuffs, I glanced at Mike. He was standing back, just watching. I pulled my cuffs from my belt and handed them to him.

"Chesley Watkins, you are under arrest," he stated, taking the cuffs from me and enclosing them around her wrists. I kept my hand between her shoulder blades, pressing her into the wall until he had finished Mirandizing her.

When he finished, he turned her around and looked her in the eye.

"The only thing my mother did for me was give me life. For that, I'm grateful."

"For giving you life? That's her biggest crime," she argued. "Bringing a killer into this world…she should be ashamed of herself."

"Well, when you see her, you can ask her," he replied. "I'm sure one of these days you'll be meeting her in hell."

And then we handed her off to an officer, who shoved her into a black and white and took her in for processing.

So it had been a glorious day.

"I'm guessing they found blood on the golf clubs?" Bobby asked after we recounted the chain of events.

"Oh yeah," Mike said with a nod. "It is most definitely over."

"And your case, too," I commented. "Tomlin went for the deal of thirty years with no chance of parole, huh?"

"I guess he figures getting out when he's sixty will be better than never getting out at all."

"I'm not sure if I agree with that, but…"

"Can anyone sit at this table, or is it reserved for super heroes?" Mary asked, having just come into the bar.

She had John with her, whom I hadn't seen in what felt like forever.

"Oh, you two finally decided to leave your hotel room, huh?" Mike teased as he got up from the table and grabbed two more chairs.

"We were out all day yesterday," Mary said with a scowl. "And today. I found an apartment."

"That's great," Bobby said, shaking John's hand. "Where?"

"Not that far from you guys, actually," Mary said with a grin.

"Tell me it's not in our building," Alex said, although I could tell that she was kidding.

"Okay, we won't tell you," John replied.

"Are you kidding? It's in our building?"

"Hey, I like that part of town, okay? And apparently, you guys are running off your neighbors. There were three units available in your building."

"And you think they're leaving because of us?" Bobby said on a laugh.

"Okay, I'm kidding," she admitted. "I'm not moving into your building. But it is in Brooklyn. It's on Snyder."

"Near the cemetery?" I asked her.

"It suits me," she said with a shrug.

"Well that's better than being in the same building with those two, " Mike said, pointing at Bobby and Alex. "The ghosts probably won't keep you up at night, not like they would."

"We aren't that bad," Alex denied.

"I don't know," I teased. "We're ten blocks away and we still hear you from time to time."

Alex pulled the lime slice from her drink and threw it at me, which started everyone laughing.

"I take it everyone wrapped up their cases since you're all in such good moods," John said.

"Two very bad criminals are currently in orange jumpsuits," Mike said.

"Your creepy lady went down, huh?" Mary asked.

"She went down swinging, but yeah. She went down. Hard. She won't be getting out."

We spent the next couple of hours at McNally's and then we finally went home.

It had been nice to spend time with John again. He was heading back to Atlantic City in the morning, but he'd promised to come back up next weekend. Mike was going to try to get a poker game together for the guys, so I figured it would be a good time for another ladies' night, too.

"I can't stop thinking about it," Mike told me as we climbed into the bed. "That woman has haunted me for five years and now it's over."

"It feels good, doesn't it?"

"_So_ good," he replied, murmuring his agreement into my ear as he wrapped his arms around me.

I had planned to talk a little more, to make sure that Chesley's remarks hadn't stuck in the back of his mind, but he started stroking his hands over my skin and I completely forgot about everything else.

"I think I owe you," he whispered as his lips moved along my throat. "You've been carrying me…"

"You've been amazingly strong," I argued gently. "You didn't need me to carry you. I just reminded you of who you are."

"I couldn't have gotten through this without you," he insisted.

"And I couldn't get through _any_ day without you. So I'd say we're even."

I expected him to argue, but he didn't. Instead, he made love to me with such focused passion and intensity that I couldn't keep from screaming out his name.

"Mike, that was…" I managed to say after I finally caught my breath.

"Better than making an arrest?" he teased.

"Hey, I quantified that remark," I said on a laugh. Then I ran my hand along his cheek and added, "_Nothing_ is better than making love with you."

He smiled and turned us over so that I was nestled against his side, both of us relaxing in the comfortable darkness.

"Why do you think she did it?" he asked after several minutes.

I wasn't sure to which _she_ he was referring.

The two always seemed to get tangled in his mind.

"Chesley?" I asked cautiously.

"Uh huh."

"I think that she started out with good intentions. Back in the beginning. And honestly, I think in her own twisted mind, she still believed that she was helping those boys. She tried to teach them that they deserved all that life had to offer."

"By stealing it. And killing for it."

"Well, yeah. That's the twisted part."

"Do you think she was right?"

Again, it was a guessing game as to his intent, but I was pretty sure I knew which thing was bugging him.

"About your mother?"

"Yeah. What do you think she'd think about how I turned out?"

"Does it matter?" I asked gently.

"No. No, I just…when she said that my mother would be ashamed…it just…it made me wonder."

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "Knowing what I know about her, I'd say that she'd probably be disappointed."

"Yeah," he said.

"Not like that," I said quickly. "Disappointed because she did her best to turn you into someone like her. She did everything she could to ruin your life. And she failed miserably. Because you're this incredible man with a successful career and a great life."

Despite the darkness, I could see his smile. Or maybe I just knew it was there because I was so attuned to him.

But I hadn't just said the words. I meant them.

I hated his mother - really, _really_ hated her – and I had no doubt that she'd resent the honorable man that he'd become.

"I did turn out okay, didn't I?"

"More than okay."

"Thanks to you."

"Don't give me the credit."

"Well, I'm not giving it to her."

"Let's say this. Thank you, Shannon Logan, for bringing Mike into this world."

"And fuck you for everything else."

He'd said it with humor, and we both started to laugh.

"That sounds like a lovely toast," I joked. "I'll have to remember that."

He was relaxed again and I loved that he'd come so far. He could talk about his past without losing sight of the present.

"I wonder what Chesley Watkins is doing right now," he said after another minute.

"She's probably going crazy. She's in a cell with all girls. And you know girls…they don't listen to their mothers."

"I bet she's plotting her revenge."

"She can plot all she wants to," I said as I ran my hand across his chest. "She's never going to see the light of day again."

TBC...


	76. Chapter 76

**Alex POV**

* * *

The week was gone before we knew it.

Ross had kept us on desk duty.

Not as punishment, he'd said.

But so that we could fully recuperate.

So that _I _could fully recuperate.

I appreciated the gesture, but by Friday afternoon, I was desperate to get away from my desk.

We finally escaped at four-thirty and headed for home. I was going to Liz's house in a little while and Bobby was going to Mike's.

I looked forward to spending the evening with friends, but I was _really_ looking forward to coming back here afterwards.

The re-injury of my shoulder had put a hold on our sex life and I'd had enough of that.

As long as I wasn't dangling from a chandelier, I didn't see how _that_ was going to hurt my shoulder.

And since poker games usually left Bobby in an amorous mood, I was hoping that tonight I might get lucky.

"I'm pretty sure that I don't need this sling anymore," I commented as we went into the bedroom to change out of our work clothes.

"It's only been a week," Bobby replied calmly.

"But it's feeling a lot better."

"That's because you're not using it. Give it time to heal."

I blew out a frustrated sigh as I walked over to him and held out my one good hand.

"Then can you unbutton me please?" I asked in annoyance. "I can't wear something that pulls over my head because it hurts to get it on, but I can't button anything for myself either."

"It's a good thing you have me then," he said as he deftly begin to unbutton my shirt.

"Yeah, because I'm sure that's why you married me. So that you could dress me."

"No, I married you so that I could _un_dress you," he teased, ignoring my attempt at a foul mood. Instead, he finished with the buttons and slid his hand beneath my blouse, running his fingers gently over my skin. "And see how well that worked out for me?"

"Why are you in such a good mood?" I asked, although I'd softened my tone as his hands continued to explore beneath the opened fabric.

"Because tonight, I'm going to play some cards…drink some scotch and smoke a few cigars…and then I'm going to meet you back here and make love to you until the sun comes up."

"Oh really?" I challenged. But on the inside, I was already on fire just from his gentle touch and his seductive words.

"I think we have a week's worth of catching up to do," he whispered as he knelt down in front of me. He pressed his lips against my stomach and then began slowly unhooking my slacks.

"So you think that I'm…healthy enough again?" I managed to say as he released the catch and let my pants fall to the floor.

"I hope so," he said. He turned his head and rested his cheek against my stomach as his hands wrapped around me, holding me to him. "What do you think?"

"I think I was ready days ago," I replied. I settled my hand on his head, running my fingers through his hair while he rubbed his whiskers against my skin.

"I didn't want to risk hurting you," he answered needlessly.

Of course, I knew that was his fear. And I couldn't really blame him for it. I'd been fairly cautious myself when it had been he who was hurt.

And with this injury, every time I aggravated it, the potential for loss of function was greater. He was right in the fact that I needed to be patient and let it heal properly so that I didn't lose mobility.

"I know. But tonight, right?"

Because the temptation of him coming home, tasting of scotch and cigars, would be too much.

If he wasn't going to give in then I might have to spend the night on Liz's couch.

"It's a date."

He helped me into a pair of jeans and another blouse and then he quickly changed, too. We left the apartment and he held my hand in his as we walked up the street to the subway station.

"Did you talk to Kevin today?"

"No, but I did talk to Kendra. It sounds like things are going well."

My brother and his wife and kids had been in a hotel all week, courtesy of their homeowner's insurance. The house had been a total loss, so they were presently searching for a new place to live.

As devastating as that loss was, it could've been so much worse. And maybe starting over in a new house would be a good thing. They'd get a clean slate, all the way around.

The fire chief had agreed to let Kevin keep his job. Of course, it would be a few more weeks before he was ready to go back, and even when he did, he'd be required to undergo weekly drug screenings, but still…he could still be a fire fighter.

Kendra had gone to the doctor for a check-up. The baby was due around Christmas. I was excited for them, since they were happy, but I still couldn't imagine.

We'd also gotten Ross to talk the fire chief into conducting random drug screens for all of the firemen. Hopefully the threat of getting caught would help most of them get clean, and the ones who couldn't...well, then I guess they deserved to be caught.

"Do I have to remind you not to drink too much?" I asked him as we neared the subway stairs.

"Me? I think you're the one who has trouble staying away from the tequila," he teased.

We stopped walking at the top of the stairs and I turned to him, going up on my toes to give him a kiss.

"Call me when you're ready to leave," Bobby said as he wrapped his arms around me. He was mindful of my arm, but still pulled me close. "I'll meet you there and we'll come home together, okay?"

"Carolyn will be with me," I reminded him.

"Then Mike and I will come together," he said firmly.

Men and their protective nature.

But since I'd left my gun at home and I was only working at half-capacity, I bit back my smartass retort. Well, that and because he was so damn sweet that it was hard to get annoyed with him.

"Okay," I agreed. He kissed me again, this time with the promise of things to come, and then he finally let me go.

Thirty minutes later, I was ringing the doorbell at Liz's house.

Mike and Carolyn had been in the area, interviewing witnesses on their latest case, so he'd dropped her here before going home. I was early, so I figured that no one else would be here aside from her, but I was wrong.

Hayes answered the door. I hadn't even known that she was invited, but I was glad to see that she was.

"Detective Goren," she greeted as she stepped back to let me in. "I haven't seen much of you this week."

"That's because you've been running around with Bernard while I was chained to a desk," I replied. "And it's Alex. Where's Liz?"

"In the kitchen. I just got here a few minutes ago and she and Carolyn have been involved in some kind of heated debate, so you actually saved me by ringing the doorbell," she said.

"A heated debate?"

"Not heated," Liz corrected as she came out of the kitchen. "Carolyn's just wrong and won't admit it."

"Carolyn's not wrong," Carolyn said as the four of us went into the living room. "You said we'd get details."

"Details about what?" I asked, smirking at the sisterly bickering between the two of them.

Hayes seemed a little uneasy about it, but I knew they weren't serious.

And most likely it had something to do with sex. That seemed to be the main topic of conversation at these get-togethers.

"The Catskills," Carolyn stated as she handed me a glass.

It looked like tonight's drink of choice was going to be margaritas, which actually sounded pretty good to me. I took a sip of the frothy green drink and looked expectantly at Liz.

"She's right. You promised," I said with a grin.

"I did no such thing."

"What's in the Catskills?" Hayes asked.

"She and the chief were, a couple of weeks ago," Carolyn explained. "And so far, we haven't heard any details."

"Can we at least wait for the others?" Liz asked as she picked up her drink. "I mean, it wouldn't be fair if I just tell the three of you. I want to make sure that everyone is appropriately jealous of my sex life."

Carolyn and I started laughing, but Hayes nearly choked on her margarita.

"Is that what we're going to be talking about?"

"Uh huh," I said with a nod. "So if you need to be drunk first, then you'd better get busy."

"Does the chief know…I mean, I'm not sure if…" she began ineloquently.

"Are you uncomfortable hearing about your boss' sex life?" Liz asked in amusement.

"Maybe."

"Okay, then we'll talk about yours," Carolyn suggested.

I almost felt sorry for Hayes. It had to be tough to be the new kid, but this would be the quickest way to break down the barriers. And honestly, I liked her. She worked hard and she was smart and fearless. Sean was lucky to have her for a partner.

Connie showed up and stalled our discussion for a moment, but as soon as she was seated in the living room and had a drink in her hand, Carolyn jumped right back in.

"So…Hayes. Tell us about Bernard."

"Bernard?" she repeated, flashing a look at Connie. "What about Bernard?"

"I didn't say a word," Connie told her. "I promise. But it's impossible to have a secret around those two. They'll sniff it out every time."

"So I _am_ right," Carolyn stated with a grin. "I'll get to collect on my bet tonight."

"Mike agreed to a bet?" I asked her. "I think I need to hear the terms."

"Wait, you and Logan bet on me and Bernard?" Hayes asked in confusion. "And I never said there was anything going on between us."

"Maybe you didn't say it, but there is," Liz said. "Even I figured that one out."

"But there's not," she insisted. "I mean, okay, I kissed him. But that's it."

I was surprised by her news and yet I wasn't. I mean, he had been at her place at five-thirty in the morning, answering her cell phone.

I could distinctly remember what Bobby and I had been up to when Ross had called at that time of morning and I'd answered Bobby's phone. Back in the beginning, I mean. Before anyone knew about us.

And it certainly wasn't just kissing.

I raised my eyebrow at her, but by this point she was completely flustered.

"I think I need a shot," I said. "Liz, do you mind?"

"You know where everything is. Help yourself."

"Come on, Hayes. Let's get one for you, too."

"You don't have to get me drunk to get me talking," she said once we were in the kitchen. "I manage to do enough of that even when I'm sober. In fact, usually I talk too much. And you know, you can call me Lauren."

I found the bottle of tequila and poured us each a shot.

"Okay, Lauren. I just wanted you to know that whatever we talk about here…anything you say…it all stays here. It's a chance to blow off some steam and have some laughs. That's it. I don't tell Bobby or Sean or anyone else about the things we discuss. And believe me, sometimes the conversations get pretty graphic," I said on a chuckle. "But it's all in good fun. And you can contribute or not, it's up to you. There's no pressure."

"Thanks," she said sincerely. "And I'm sorry. I guess I'm a downer already on your fun night. I appreciate you guys inviting me. I'm sure that Eames must have…"

"Sean didn't say a word," I interrupted. "In fact, I didn't know you were coming until I got here. But I'm glad you did. Now drink."

I clinked my glass against hers and then tossed back the shot.

"Bring that bottle in here, Alex!" Liz called in from the living room. "Mary's here and she needs a shot!"

"Mary? Your mother's here?" Lauren asked me. It was a good thing that I'd already swallowed the tequila or I would've surely spit it out at the thought of my mother coming to something like this.

"No," I said quickly. "Mary Shannon. We met her in Denver a few months ago. She's dating Mike's brother."

I handed Lauren the bottle and then picked up my shot glass and the two of us went back into the living room. I made the necessary introductions as Lauren poured out a shot and handed it to Mary.

"Bad day?" I asked her.

"You could say that," she replied. "I got turned down for the apartment. The leasing agent said that I'm not stable enough. Can you believe that? I'm a fucking United States Marshal."

"Wow, you're a marshal?" Lauren asked.

"Which apparently doesn't mean much in the housing industry," she said, holding her glass out for a refill. "I have to start the new job a week from Monday and I have no place to live. How bad does this suck?"

"He said you're not stable?" Connie asked her.

"Uh huh. Those were his exact words. And I mean, I'm _not_ stable, but this guy doesn't know that. My job is the most stable thing about me. I'm supposed to fly home tomorrow to pack up my stuff, but now…I don't know what I'm going to do."

"I think there's something in my building," Lauren said. "I mean, I'm not sure if it's still available, but I saw the notice a couple of weeks ago. I can check it out if you want."

"Really? Yeah, that would be great. I'm running out of time and John keeps saying that I should just move into the hotel, but I really don't want to do that."

"Speaking of John…" Carolyn said with a smile.

Mary flashed her an answering grin and shook her head.

"You think I'm going to kiss and tell?"

"I think you'd better."

"Wait, you and John finally…"

"I didn't say that. Carolyn did."

"I think you need to go first," I told Carolyn. "You keep trying to get everyone else to tell stories. Entertain us with the latest of the Mike and Carolyn escapades. We need a nice distraction from the real world."

"Yeah, Carolyn. Has Mike shimmied down any drainpipes lately?" Liz asked.

"Do I want to know?" Lauren asked.

"Yes," I said on a laugh. "I'll tell you later. But first, I'm sure Carolyn has something new to tell us, right?"

"Maybe. But let's do it this way. The one with the most recent experience has to go first," Carolyn suggested.

"That takes me out of the running," I said smartly. "This damn shoulder injury has really cramped my style. It's been almost a week."

"A week?" Lauren asked in surprise. "And you're sure you won't have to go first? Because you've got me beat all to hell. It's been at least two months. In fact, it might even be longer than that. I can't remember exactly when it was. Around Christmas, maybe?"

"Yesterday," Liz said as she refilled her glass. "Actually, today. It was after midnight. Well, it _started_ before midnight, but it didn't end until quite a while after."

Lauren leaned over to me and whispered, "It really doesn't seem weird to hear her talk about the chief like that?"

"It took me awhile," I admitted. "And wait until you see him for the first time after hearing about it."

"You've got me beat," Carolyn said to Liz. "I guess it's time to hear about the Catskills."

"We haven't heard from Mary yet," I reminded her. "Or Connie."

"John's been in Atlantic City since Monday," Mary said.

"Which answers my question from earlier," Liz said with a smug grin. "The last time we asked you about him, you said you had no idea. And now you're having to quantify where he spent his week."

"What are you, a detective?" Mary retorted.

"No, but I could play one on TV."

"You'd be pretty good at it," Mary admitted. "So yeah, Monday."

"Connie?"

"Um…" she said hesitantly, and then she checked her watch.

"If you're going to measure it in hours, then I'd say you've got me beat," Liz said on a laugh.

"Well, it's his birthday," she said with a shrug.

"Today?" I asked her. "I knew it was coming up, but I didn't realize it was today."

"Uh huh."

"So you gave him a birthday present," Carolyn said with a smile. "Which means you get to go first. How is Lupo these days?"

"Very satisfied," Connie replied coyly. "And that's all I'm going to say about it."

"You're holding out on us?"

"Considering that last week our little secret had to come out during the course of a police investigation…"

"What?" I asked, looking to Lauren since Connie had shifted her gaze to her, too.

"I didn't tell anyone about that," Lauren said.

"I know. But Lupo told me about the questioning. So I know you know. And I'm sure it's in a file somewhere."

"Know what?" Mary asked. "Come on, there are no secrets here."

"Sure there are," Connie replied, but then she nodded at Lauren. "Go ahead.."

"Oh, that's not really…"

"Lauren. Tell us."

"Okay, well, Bernard and I had to get Lupo's alibi. You know, for the ADA murders we've been working on. He admitted to threatening one of them, so we wanted to clear him."

"Yeah, we know that part," Carolyn said. "Get to the good stuff."

"He told us that he'd gone to pick up Connie at work. And they'd parked in the garage. For an hour."

"Counselor," Liz said, shaking her head. "In the parking garage? Now you sound like Alex!"

"And Carolyn," I added.

"Sometimes there just isn't time to drive home," Carolyn said unrepentantly.

"So after Lupo told Lauren what we'd been up to…"

"Wait, he actually said it?" I asked. "Because I can't picture him saying the words."

"No, he beat around the bush quite a bit," Lauren said. "There were a lot of meaningful pauses. And I'll admit, I was a little slow to catch on to what he was talking about."

"But wait, it gets better," Connie said. "Because then Lauren told him, _that's great because the camera should have caught you coming_!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Lauren argued, but then she started laughing, joining in with the rest of us. "I know. It was bad."

"He thought it was pretty funny," Connie told her.

"I bet it will be awhile before you two try that again, huh?" Liz asked her.

"Not really, no. I…actually had to work late tonight, so…"

"You did it again tonight?" I asked her.

"Like Carolyn said. Sometimes there just isn't time to go home. And it's his birthday. I wanted to see what it was like to be with a man in his forties."

"Incredible," I said.

"Unbelievable," Carolyn added.

"Much better than a man in his thirties," Mary said.

"Wait til they hit their fifties," Liz told us.

"I would really like to be able to add something to this conversation, but…I've got nothing. The last guy I was with was in his twenties and it…wasn't memorable," Lauren said. "I think I need another drink."

"Yes, you do. We still need to hear about this kiss."

"Who are you kissing?" Mary asked her.

"Detective Bernard," Connie said in a teasing voice. And then she added innocently, "Hey, isn't he in his forties?"

"Uh huh," I agreed.

"So you kissed him..." Carolyn prompted.

"Yeah, but I think I messed it up," she said. "I kissed him, and then I yelled at him. And then I kissed him again. And then yelled some more."

"What were you yelling about?" I asked her, trying not to laugh.

"He tried to tell me that I'm not interested in him."

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"I know! That's what I said."

"When was this? And where were you?"

"We were in the car. Off duty, of course. We sort of had a date last weekend, although he refused to call it that, and so I didn't call it that either."

"The basketball game?"

"Uh huh. And then we went out afterwards. He took me home about three o'clock in the morning, and there wasn't any parking so I told him to pull in front of the hydrant and just let me out."

"And then you just kissed him?"

"Completely out of the blue," she admitted. "I think I really caught him by surprise, but I'd been thinking about it all night, and…well, sometimes I just act without thinking about consequences."

"Nothing wrong with a little impulsiveness," Mary said. "I've been known to give in to that from time to time."

"Not with John you didn't," Carolyn reminded her. "You waited two months."

"True. But I kissed him after only knowing him a day. Well, he kissed me first, but then I dragged him into my hotel room, and…okay, my point is that there's nothing wrong with going with your gut. Law enforcement officers do it all the time, right? Trust your instincts."

"You dragged him into your hotel room?" I asked her with a grin. "In Denver?"

"Uh huh," she said, closing her eyes as she surely replayed the memory in her mind. "I have no idea how we ended up not sleeping together that night."

"This was last Saturday? You two have been working together all week, right?" Carolyn commented to Lauren. "So things must have ended okay that night."

"He said he was going to pretend that nothing had happened."

"Ouch. I'm sure he didn't meant that."

"No, he did. But just until we're no longer partners. He said we'd talk about it after I go back to the 2-7."

"Yeah, because partners should absolutely not be involved with one another," I said jokingly.

"Don't let him get away with that," Connie said. "That's a cop out. What if you never go back? Or what if you do, and then the two of you start dating, and then you get transferred to Major Case? You can't base your relationship on your career."

"And with Ross running the show, that kind of thing isn't really frowned upon any more. I mean, as long as you're both professionals about it while you're working."

"So you think I should push the issue?"

"I think that if he's what you want, then you have to go for it. Don't waste time worrying about rules and regulations. I wasted too many years wishing that I could be with Bobby when all I really needed to do was tell him how I felt."

"How long did you work together before you became a couple?"

"Nine years," I told her.

"And you're the one who took the next step?"

"Uh huh."

"Me, too," Carolyn said. "Although, in my case, I ran away to another continent before I found the courage to do anything. But when I came back, I found Mike and told him what I wanted. Him."

"What about you, Connie?" Liz asked. "I'm not sure if you ever mentioned which one of you got the ball rolling."

"It was definitely me," she said on a laugh. "I mean, he asked me out but only after I spent weeks giving him countless opportunities and suggestive looks. He was so totally clueless."

"That's kind of how it works, isn't it?" Liz said. "I chased Danny for quite awhile before it finally occurred to him what I was after."

"You went after him?" Mary asked her. "I mean, no offense because I like the chief. I think he's a nice guy, but I guess I just always assumed that he pursued you."

"He remembers it that way," she said with a wry grin. "And I don't correct him. But that's not the case. I got called out to a murder scene one time, and he was there and he just looked so…commanding. In control. He piqued my interest. He'd just been assigned to Major Case and I heard through the grape vine that he had just gone through a difficult divorce, so I decided that the timing was bad and I left it alone. But then one night, I ran into him at the movie theater. It was strange, really, because I rarely went to the movies, and he said the same thing, and yet there we were together."

"So you watched the movie together?"

"No," she said on a laugh. "He looked uncomfortable as hell when I suggested that he sit with me and then he made some excuse about the idea that it wouldn't look good for us to be seen together. Which, of course, I took as a rejection. It took me another two months to get up the nerve to try again. I started to call him, but then I decided to go to his office. I figured that he would have more trouble saying no to my face than over the phone."

"You were worried that he'd say no?"

"After that night at the movies? Yeah, I was afraid he'd say no. But I'd gotten tickets to an opera and I didn't want to go alone. I also didn't want to go with anyone else because for some reason I kept thinking about him, so…I asked."

"And he said yes," Connie said with a smile.

"No. He said no," she told us, chuckling at the memory. "I was mortified."

"How is he not dead?" I asked her.

"By the grace of God," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "Two days later, he came down to the morgue. It took him nearly five minutes to get the words out, but he finally intimated that if I still had the tickets and if I hadn't yet found a date, then he would like to go with me."

"And he calls that him asking you out?"

"Yes he does. But that's fine. I don't mind him taking the credit," she said. "But Lauren, Alex is right. If you like him, tell him. Don't waste time waiting for the right moment."

"I did tell him," she said. "But I also agreed to wait until we solve this case."

"Are you getting close?"

"We found out that both men were sleeping with the same woman. On the sly, of course. She's got an alibi, but she's married, so right now, we're looking at her husband and then we're also looking at a guy who was recently paroled. Both of the victims were involved in putting him behind bars, so it might be some kind of payback thing. I'm thinking we'll be able to wrap it up the first part of next week."

"And have you had trouble working together this week?"

"No. It's been fine. It was a little awkward at first maybe, but it passed."

"You should call him," I said. "Tell him you want to meet up with him afterwards."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah. He's at the poker game. Both events usually wind down around the same time."

"Yeah, but…I don't know."

"Tell him you need a ride home," Connie suggested.

"I don't. I took the subway."

"That settles it then. You definitely need a ride home. You don't want to be taking the subway alone late at night."

"I do it all the time," she said.

"Lauren," I said on a sigh. "Work with me here. I'm trying to help you."

"Right," Carolyn agreed. "So next time you can fill us in on the details of your newfound sex life."

"Details? I don't think so. None of you have really offered details," she answered, and I liked that she was getting into the spirit of things.

"You want details?" Liz asked.

"Not from you, no," Lauren answered, causing all of us to start laughing. "I'm sorry, Liz, but he's my _boss_. And the idea of him…_naked_…I just…"

She trailed off, shaking her head.

"Have another drink, Lauren," Liz said. "Because I have got to tell you guys about the Catskills. And then you'll all wish you were sleeping with a guy in his fifties."

TBC...


	77. Chapter 77

**Bobby POV**

* * *

"So, I told Carolyn to wait for me at Liz's place," Mike said as he handed me a drink. "I figured we could walk over there together."

"That's exactly what I told Alex. She wasn't crazy about it, but she agreed. The subway at two in the morning, after she's been drinking and while she's still recuperating, is just not a good idea."

"Alex agreed to not riding the subway alone?" Sean asked, coming into the kitchen in time to catch the tail end of our conversation. "How in the hell did you manage to talk her into that?"

"I asked," I said with a shrug.

"And she just…gave in to you. Because you asked."

"Well, that and…"

I broke off when Johnny came into the room.

I'd planned to tell Sean just exactly why Alex had been so amenable, but even though I had no problem torturing her brother with hints of our sex life didn't mean I was going to say anything in front of her father.

"Don't let me stop you," Johnny said, noticing that I'd cut my sentence short.

"It's fine," I told him. "We were getting ready to come out and get the game started. Is Lupo here yet?"

"Yep," Lupo said as he came into the kitchen. John Strathmore was right on his heels, both of them seeking a drink. Mike waved everyone back into the dining room and brought the bottle out there, along with glasses.

Ross and Bernard were already sitting at the table, which had been pulled out to its maximum length. Ross was shuffling a deck of cards, getting ready to deal out the first hand.

"Yeah, what took you so long to get here?" Sean asked as he sat down. "We left at the same time."

"Connie got stuck at the office."

"Wait a minute," Bernard said as he lit up a cigar. "Did she get stuck in the _office_? Or did you two get held up in the parking garage? Because I've heard that sometimes it's hell getting out of those garages."

I quickly turned to look at Lupo, but he just held Bernard's gaze and slowly shook his head.

"She worked late," he insisted with a grin.

"So it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that today's your birthday," Bernard continued.

"Wow, Connie let you come to a poker game on your birthday?" Sean asked.

"She _let_ me?" Lupo repeated. "Do you have to ask your wife permission to go places?"

"On my birthday? Yeah."

"Not just on your birthday," Johnny said. "You ask all the time."

"I don't ask. I discuss. There's a difference."

"I'm guessing Connie didn't mind because they already celebrated," Bernard joked. "So what kind of present did she give you, Lupes?"

"A week as someone else's partner and you're already throwing me under the bus, huh B.? Where's the loyalty?"

"Yeah, and when are you and Hayes going to wrap that case up anyway? No offense, Lupo, but I'm ready to get my partner back."

"No offense?" Mike asked, chuckling at Sean's remark. "How is he not supposed to be offended by that?"

"I just mean that I'm stuck in limbo. We're working a case, but I know that as soon as they catch their killer, I'm going to be sent back to the 2-7, so it makes it tough to get too involved."

"You should get her back next week," Bernard said. He said it with an odd mixture of emotion that I couldn't quite get a read on, but I let it go as Bernard handed me a cigar and a lighter.

I lit up the Cohiba and sat back, inhaling deeply.

I wasn't sure why Alex enjoyed it so much when I smoked these things, but I was definitely glad that she did.

That thought had my mind going down paths that were better left untraveled.

At least while I was in the present company.

Later, after I'd met up with her and we were back in the privacy of our own apartment…_then_ I'd let my creative mind wander.

Because I had some catching up to do, and even though I knew I'd still need to be careful with her, I hadn't been kidding about my intentions.

And _until the sun comes up_ might be an underestimation.

I mean, we didn't really have anything on our agenda for tomorrow, either, so maybe I'd make love to her until sunrise on _Sunday._

I smiled at that thought and took another toke as I focused back in on the conversation.

"So you're anxious to get back to your own house, huh?" Ross asked Sean.

"It's not that. I mean, I love Major Case. One of these days I'd like to be there for good. But since I'm assigned to the 2-7, I feel like I'm earning a teacher's pet rep with the other detectives in Homicide."

"Because you're friends with the chief?"

"Well that, and because I'm related to him," Sean said with a nod at me.

"Why would anyone care about that?" I asked him.

"Seriously? You and Alex are legendary."

"Alex maybe," I said, shaking my head.

"Speaking of Alex," Johnny spoke up. "I've got to ask you, Bobby."

"What is it?"

"How bad has it been?" he asked with a smirk. He caught Sean's eye and the two of them shared a look and then turned to me.

"How bad has what been?"

"She's going on week two of being less than a hundred percent. Has she pulled her gun on you yet?"

Everyone started laughing, but I just shook my head.

"She's fine."

"She's fine? Okay, now I know you're lying. She broke her foot once in high school, and Mom made her stay home from school for _one_ day…it was a nightmare."

"Oh come on," Mike said on a laugh. "You're exaggerating."

"He's not," Johnny agreed. "Mary was about ready to pull her hair out by the time I got home from work. She said that it was like taking care of an injured lion. She'd been deathly afraid of getting eaten alive and it was impossible to keep her still."

"Uh huh," Sean added. "And you guys let her go back to school the next day because Mom couldn't deal with her at home another day. So she went, and she left the crutches at home. She just walked on that cast like there was nothing wrong."

"Well, she did try to convince me that she didn't need the sling," I admitted.

"But she's still wearing it?" Johnny asked. "You're a better man than me. I never could control that girl."

"I don't try to control her," I explained. "I just…"

"No, stop right there. I don't want to know how you get her to listen," Johnny said.

"Oh yeah, weren't you getting ready to explain that to Sean when we got interrupted?" Mike asked with a grin. "Exactly how is it that Alex does whatever you ask?"

"Mutual respect," Ross said, taking my side.

"Exactly," I agreed. "Thank you, sir."

"I think I need to thank you, too," Johnny said, suddenly getting serious. "I'm guessing you had something to do with the fact that Kevin was able to keep his job."

"I don't have any jurisdiction over the fire department," Ross deflected.

"Maybe not, but you know the chief," Sean said.

"I may have made a phone call. But Kevin earned his right to be there. And he's paid for his mistake. As long as he stays clean now, there's no reason why he should be tossed out. And honestly, there were so many guys in the same boat that it would've been pretty hard for the chief to completely clean house. But I think he got the point across. No matter what they were doing in the past, as long as it stays in the past then they'll be fine. The ones who can't quit the habit will find themselves out of a job."

"That sounds reasonable," John agreed. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"But not everyone gets one," Johnny said. He raised his glass in Ross' direction. "Thank you."

"So where is Lewis tonight?" Mike asked, moving on to a lighter topic as he dealt out the next hand. "He hasn't been to the last several of these."

"That's because he's got a ball and chain now," Bernard said.

"You're not really going to start that again, are you?" Lupo asked him. "Because you know you're the minority here, right?"

"Lewis is getting married?" John asked.

"Not yet," I explained. "But they may as well. She moved in with him last week."

"What is it with people and premarital cohabitation?" Johnny asked good-naturedly. "In my day, you did things in the right order. You went on dates, you fell in love, you got married. The living together and the sex came afterwards."

"Dad, seriously…" Sean said, waving his hand as if to ward off Johnny's words. "Are you going to start talking about sex? Because if you are…"

"I'm not getting specific," Johnny retorted before taking a drink. "I'm just saying…there should be an order to things."

"Yeah, but what if you get married and then you find out the sex isn't any good?" John posed.

"If you're in love, then it shouldn't matter," Johnny insisted.

I sat back and smoked my cigar, choosing to stay out of the conversation altogether.

"I think it's an antiquated belief," John argued. "It puts pressure on hormonal young adults to want to get married. It's like that's the reward. Then six months later, they realize that they were just in _lust_ instead of in _love_ and the marriage hits the rocks."

"Says the man who sleeps with two women at a time," Johnny retorted.

"Not any more," Mike interjected.

"Definitely not," John agreed, but apparently Johnny wasn't done with his soapbox lecture.

"Take Sean for instance," he said. "He and Alicia have been married for sixteen years, so they make a good argument for doing things the right way."

"I…may not exactly be the best example," Sean said quietly.

"Sure you are," Johnny continued boisterously. "I mean, I can't use Mike because it's not any big secret that he and Carolyn lived together before they got married. And Bobby…well, no hard feelings, son, but you and Alex…"

"Her apartment burned down," I reminded him, working to contain a smile. This was such a nice change from poker games in the past, because at least this time he wasn't persecuting me. He was just having fun.

"So you only moved in together to resolve housing issues," Ross stated.

"Right," Mike said with a nod. "And there was no sex until after the wedding. Isn't that right, Bobby?"

"You've been sleeping with my daughter for years," Johnny said loudly, and I was starting to think that maybe he was a little drunk.

"No, I…"

"Okay, so most of it was only in your own mind, but…"

Everyone started laughing at his declaration, and I quickly reached for the bottle of scotch to refill my glass.

"No need to look so guilty about it," he continued. "I'm just stating facts. And maybe before I was remiss to recognize how much you love her. So I'm not going to give you a hard time about that. But my point was…what was my point?"

"People shouldn't live together before marriage," Bernard reminded him with a grin.

"Right. Sean and Alicia…sixteen years and yet they did it the right way."

"That's not entirely accurate," Sean said.

"So there you go, John. Sean's the…what do you mean that's not accurate?" he asked, Sean's words having finally registered.

"We lived together first. I just didn't tell you," Sean admitted.

"You…you lived together? How did I not know that?"

"Because I didn't want you to know. Because you seemed to think that it would be a really bad idea, but we…wanted to make sure we could handle the day to day stuff. Dating is just usually seeing someone at their best. Living together is when their true colors come out."

Johnny stared at Sean for a long minute and then he slowly shook his head and said, "That makes sense."

"Really?" I asked him, unable to contain my surprise at his willingness to accept Sean's confession.

"Yeah, what the hell do I know? I mean, if it was good enough for all of you then who am I to judge?"

"Well, yeah," Mike said on a laugh. "But you usually do. Are you sure you don't want to get a dig in? You know, I slept with Carolyn on the first date."

"Yeah, me, too," Lupo said. Mike whipped his head around to look at him, so he quickly added, "I mean, not Carolyn. I slept with _Connie_ on the first date."

"The first date, Lupes?" Bernard asked him. "And you didn't tell me?"

"Yeah, just like you didn't say anything about what happened on your date with Hayes, right?" Lupo retorted. Bernard stared at him hard while Ross and Sean focused on Bernard.

"That's because there's nothing to tell about me and Hayes," Bernard said pointedly.

"So you didn't sleep with her on the first date?" Mike questioned, enjoying Bernard's squirming.

And it was kind of funny, but only because we knew that Ross would be okay with it. He was working hard to bite back a smile.

Aside from that, Bernard was usually the first one to give someone a hard time, so he had to expect that it would get back around to him eventually.

"No," he insisted. "I didn't."

"But you did have a date," I pointed out.

"You're dating my partner?" Sean asked.

"No, we…I…we're not dating."

"Don't deny it on my account," Ross said. "She'll be going back to the 2-7 within another week or so."

"Good thing, right boss?" Mike questioned. "Because we know how you hate it when partners date each other."

"There's nothing going on," Bernard stated firmly. "We're friends. That's it."

As he said the words, his phone began to vibrate. He'd left it sitting on the table next to his stack of chips and I watched as Sean surreptitiously glanced at the display.

"You have her logged into your contacts," he stated. "As _Lauren_."

Bernard snatched up his phone and went into the other room to answer the call.

"Is he really dating her?" Ross asked.

"I was just teasing him," Lupo said with a shrug. "But I guess I was right."

"Which means I lost my bet," Mike said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sure that's a hardship," I joked.

"No wonder it's taking them forever to clear this case," Sean said. "I can't believe she didn't tell me."

"Seriously?" Lupo said, barking out a laugh. "You told everyone that she had a crush on _me_. I'm amazed she even talks to you at all anymore."

"That was…I didn't mean…" he began and then he stopped and sighed. "Yeah, I know, but I thought she was over that."

Bernard came back into the room and sat down at the table, picking up the cards to shuffle without saying a word.

"Well?" Johnny asked him.

"Well what?"

"What did she want?"

"She asked for a ride."

"So, Bernard...are you going to…give her a ride?" Mike asked him.

"Ha ha," he replied, but he finally relaxed a little. "Yes, I'm going to take her home. Now, are we playing cards or what?"

We played a few hands, all of which I lost. I was having too much fun to worry about winning.

"Lupo, what ever happened with that threatening call that Connie received?" I asked suddenly.

I wasn't sure what had made me think about it, other than the fact that almost all of us would be heading to Ross' house shortly because no one wanted the women walking home alone.

"I haven't found him," he admitted tersely. "Yet. But I will."

"Nothing more has happened?"

"No. Except that I'm driving her crazy because I don't want her to go anywhere by herself."

"I know that feeling," Mike said. "Except it backfired on me. I was in here, being all manly, while she was outside with our suspect."

"You had a suspect come here?" Johnny asked. "What happened?"

"Carolyn broke his nose," Ross said with a wry grin. "I'd say she handles herself just fine."

"And I seem to remember you having a nice shiner that Connie gave you," Sean pointed out to Lupo. "So maybe we all need to relax and not worry so much about them."

I looked from Mike to Lupo to Ross and at the same time we all shook our heads.

"That's probably not going to happen," Lupo said with a grin. He dealt the cards and said, "Last hand and then I have to go."

"Did Connie give you a curfew?" Sean teased.

"It's almost two," he answered.

"Yeah, I need to go, too," I agreed.

Because I'd waited long enough.

The night had been fun, but now I needed Alex.

TBC...

A/N: Hang around for three more chapters, and then we'll wrap this up. Thanks for reading!


	78. Chapter 78

**Bernard POV**

* * *

I was going along just fine until I stuck my foot in my mouth.

I'd spouted off to Lupo, teasing him about his admission of he and Connie having sex on their first date.

Because really, I was surprised.

Not so much that he hadn't told me because Lupo did tend to be a little tight-lipped about things like that, but just at how well they hid it.

Even later when I'd found out about their relationship, I kind of thought that they hadn't yet taken it to that level.

Because I thought I would've been able to see the signs.

But so the tease just came out. And then came his response.

"Yeah, just like you didn't say anything about what happened on your date with Hayes, right?"

Now if I'd had my wits about me, I would've denied it much more smoothly.

And I would've been ready for Mike and Bobby's one-two punch.

But there was nothing smooth about my response.

"That's because there's nothing to tell about me and Hayes," I said defensively as my heart began to pound.

I studiously ignored Ross and instead concentrated on sending Lupo a telepathic plea to drop the topic.

I'd been working so hard all week to shove down my feelings and just get through this case. I didn't want Ross to see me as unprofessional, and I really didn't want to give Hayes that kind of reputation.

That was why I'd asked her to wait.

Well, that and because I was so completely blown away by the prospect that she might be interested. I wanted to give her time to reconsider. I wanted to be sure that it was me she wanted and not just someone.

"So you didn't sleep with her on the first date?" Mike asked me.

A classic detective question and yet I walked right into it.

"No, I didn't."

I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that Bobby would be all over that statement.

Thus the _two_ in the one-two punch.

And of course, he didn't disappoint.

"But you did have a date."

I felt like a deer in the headlights as everyone at the table looked at me.

"You're dating my partner?" Sean asked.

I had to deny it. She worked with Sean. It wouldn't be fair of me to out something that we hadn't even really started yet.

I chastised myself for even letting the conversation get this far.

"No, we…I…we're not dating."

"Don't deny it on my account," Ross said. "She'll be going back to the 2-7 within another week or so."

"Good thing, right boss?" Mike questioned. "Because we know how you hate it when partners date each other."

"There's nothing going on," I insisted. "We're friends. That's it."

The timing of what happened next was something out of a movie.

My adamant denial, followed by a phone call from the subject of our discussion.

And she was in my phone as Lauren.

I wasn't sure what I'd been thinking when I listed her number that way. Maybe it was just that I liked the sound of her name. I'd like to be able to call her that instead of Hayes. From the first day that I'd seen her, sitting at Alex's desk, I'd imagined what it might be like to have that kind of relationship.

Of course, I also hadn't considered that anyone else would ever see it.

But it sat there on the table, buzzing and flashing _incoming call from Lauren_. And apparently Sean couldn't resist looking at it.

"You have her logged into your contacts," he stated. "As _Lauren_."

I was so completely busted. Even if everyone believed that nothing was going on, no one would believe that I didn't wish for it to be _something_.

I didn't respond to Sean's remark, but instead just picked up my phone and went into the living room to have some privacy.

"What's up?" I answered, trying to sound casual even though my mind was scrambling to figure out how much damage had been done by that conversation.

And why exactly was she calling me?

I knew she'd gone to Liz's house. She knew that I was coming here.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your game," she said. "Or maybe I'm not sorry. Are you winning?"

"I'm holding my own," I replied. It was downright ridiculous how good it made me feel just to hear her voice. It made me forget about everything else.

"That doesn't surprise me. Hey, I was wondering if you would mind giving me a ride home."

"You…um…you want me to come there to pick you up?"

"Yeah. Not right now. Just whenever you're ready."

"Yeah, sure."

"You don't mind?"

Did I mind having the unexpected opportunity to see her? I was already imagining how she might have dressed for the evening.

"I don't mind at all," I assured her. "But…just so you know…the guys here know about our date."

"Okay."

"I mean, not what happened after the date," I clarified. "But they know we went on a date."

"I thought we weren't calling it a date."

"Lauren…"

"B., it's fine. You're the one who was worried about other people finding out."

"It's not that. I just…I didn't want us to be under a microscope, you know? If you want to see where things go, then we need to give it a fair shake."

"If _I_ want to? What do _you _want?"

"I want…to come and pick you up and we'll talk about it."

I hung up with her and then stood for a moment to gather my composure.

What did I want?

I mean, yeah, I definitely wanted her.

But at the risk of what?

Would Ross care? It certainly didn't seem like it.

And honestly, I'd been working with the Gorens and the Logans for months now and they've always only been professional. Sure, in the downtime it was a different story, but while on a case, their relationships were never an issue.

Lupo, too. With the exception of that day in the conference room, I'd never seen a hint of him or Connie acting inappropriately. Hell, they'd been dating for months before I even knew about it.

So what would it matter, if Lauren and I started dating, as long as we didn't bring it to work with us?

It wouldn't matter at all.

And I liked her. Quite a bit.

And as worried as I'd been about the idea that she wasn't all that into me, I had to admit that maybe she _was_ into me.

I mean, she kissed me first. And second. And she called me tonight when I knew for a fact that she was more than capable of using public transportation.

So maybe I needed to let go of my self-doubt, which really had only shown up since that whole Janelle incident.

I went back into the dining room and sat down at the table. I was anxious to leave just so that I could see her, but I couldn't run out now. I shuffled the cards, mentally debating how many more hands I needed to play so that it wouldn't seem too obvious when I left.

"Well?" Johnny asked me.

"Well what?"

"What did she want?"

"She asked for a ride."

"So, Bernard...are you going to…give her a ride?" Mike asked. And of course he had that knowing smirk on his face.

"Ha ha," I answered. "Yes, I'm going to take her home. Now, are we playing cards or what?"

We played a few more hands, and just when I was ready to call it quits, Lupo spoke up and said that he needed to go.

And Goren, too, so the heat was off of me when I got up from the table.

"You're all leaving? But I'm smelling a comeback," Sean argued.

"Not tonight you don't," Johnny said. "Learn when to cut your losses, son."

I reached for my coat, only halfway listening to the ribbing going on between the others, when Lupo pulled me aside.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "I wasn't trying to jam you up. I honestly didn't know you'd had a date."

"I know."

"And why didn't I know that?" he asked with a grin. "What, we're not partners, so you don't talk to me anymore?"

"We're partners," I said firmly. "I just wanted to find out where it was going before I jinxed it."

"And where is it going?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted.

"But she asked you to come pick her up," he stated. "Maybe it's just me, but she doesn't seem the type to mind riding the subway."

"She's not," I agreed.

He gave me a nod and then asked me, "So we're good?"

"Sure," I said quickly. I wasn't upset with him. In fact, as much as I'd enjoyed spending time with Lauren, I'd missed working with Lupo. He was the best friend I'd had in a very long time.

"Good. Because I've got a favor to ask."

"Name it."

An hour later, Lauren and I sat together in the car in front of her building. This time, I'd found a parking space so I turned off the engine.

I wasn't sure if there was going to be any kissing going on, but if there was, I wasn't going to let it get ruined by a rolling vehicle.

"He asked you to be his best man?"

"Yeah," I answered with a slow smile. "I hadn't thought much about it, but I'm honored that he asked me."

"She's going to make such a beautiful bride. Do you think I'll get an invitation?"

"I'm sure you will," I answered, surprised that she considered otherwise. Then I smirked and added, "Are you the type who cries at weddings?"

"No," she answered. "But sometimes afterwards."

"Really? Why?"

"It's just…I don't know. It's never going to be me. And most of the time I'm fine with that, but every once in a while, especially after going to one, it gets to me just a little bit. And I don't even know if I want to be married or if I even _should_ be married because, well…for a couple of reasons, but still…sometimes I get tired of being alone."

She was suddenly so serious and sad that I was taken by surprise. But at the same time, I liked that she'd opened up about something so personal.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I didn't mean to get into that."

"Don't be sorry. We're friends. I'm not just here for the laughs. You can tell me whatever's on your mind."

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully. "I like that about you."

She brought her eyes up to mine and stared at me for a long time. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say something else or do something or what…so I just waited.

"I drank tequila tonight," she stated at last, shaking her head. "It makes me emotional. I don't know why I even drink it."

"You'll have to start taking your own bottle when you hang out with them," I told her. "Alex and Carolyn are all about the tequila."

"I noticed," she said, finally smiling. "Mary, too. And Liz…Connie…they're a lot of fun. And the things they talk about…"

She broke off and started chuckling, instantly piquing my curiosity.

"Are you going to share?"

"No," she said, still smiling. "But I guess I do have to tell you one thing…I told them that I'd kissed you."

"You did?"

"Yes. I hope you're okay with that. I hadn't planned on telling them, but somehow I lost control of the conversation."

"It happens," I said knowingly.

And I was ridiculously pleased by the idea that she'd told them.

Or had they laughed about it? Had she mentioned it and then they all questioned why in the world she had done such a thing?

"What did they say?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well," she began, turning fully towards me and bringing her hand up to my cheek. "They all think the world of you. And the overwhelming consensus is that if I want you, then I need to go for it."

She'd leaned in closer as she spoke until she was hovering mere inches away. Her thumb gently moved back and forth over my cheek and I was suddenly, inexplicably nervous.

"And do you?" I managed to ask.

"Do I what?"

"Do you…want me?"

"What do you think?" she asked, her voice now barely a whisper. And then she closed the last distance between us, settling her lips against mine.

I couldn't keep my hands still any longer, so I moved my arms around her, pulling her closer to me. She ran her hand down the side of my neck and across my chest, grabbing onto the fabric as she deepened the kiss.

It had been six days since we'd done this last and I realized that was six days too many.

"Come upstairs," she said when she moved her lips away from mine and instead began kissing along my neck.

"Lauren…" I ground out, although I'm not sure what else I was going to say.

_Please, yes, let's go upstairs._

Or, _I'd better not because I won't be responsible for my actions_.

Probably a little of both.

"Just for a little while," she continued. "I want to kiss you without this console in between us."

I chuckled at her ability to be practical when I could barely form words.

"We were going to wait, remember?" I finally managed to say. "Until after the case."

"You were going to wait. I've decided not to."

With her hand still tightly clutching the front of my shirt, she shifted and moved her lips up to my ear.

"So...do you want to fight about it?" she whispered. "Or do you want to go upstairs?"

TBC...


	79. Chapter 79

**Ross POV**

* * *

"Now that is a beautiful sight."

The words just came out of me when I went onto the balcony and found my wife standing next to the railing.

She was backlit by moonlight and the wind was gently moving her hair back from her face.

And she was smiling.

"How much did you have to drink tonight?" she responded.

"Not much," I said as I went to stand next to her. "And even if I had, it wouldn't make my statement less true."

I put my arm around her and she leaned her head against my shoulder, but she stayed quiet.

"What's on your mind?" I asked when several more minutes passed.

"What made you come to the morgue that day?"

"I've been down there a million times, honey. You're going to have to be more specific."

"When you came to see if I still had the opera tickets. Did you just suddenly decide you had the urge to see La Boheme?"

"I suddenly had the urge to see you."

"Danny..."

"No, I'm serious. You threw me for a loop when you came to my office and asked me out."

"But you said no."

"Because I'm an idiot. I couldn't figure out your motivation. And I thought maybe I'd misunderstood."

"Misunderstood? I can't imagine that I was unclear with my invitation."

"Well, no," I admitted, unable to stop a chuckle from rumbling through me. She had a point. She was nothing if not direct. "You were straight-forward, as always. I just couldn't understand why you were asking. I thought maybe there was an ulterior motive."

"Like what?" she asked in surprise.

"I don't know," I said on a sigh. "And knowing you, like I know you now…it sounds ridiculous to even say it out loud. But I didn't know you well back then. And I'd been burned pretty badly in the past. More than once."

"So you were scared."

"You're damn right I was scared."

"So what made you change your mind?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about you," I said quietly, and then I pressed a kiss against the top of her head. "I've dated smart women…independent women…and beautiful women. But I'd never been out with one who was all three of those things. I wasn't sure if I could possibly measure up, but I finally decided that I had to try."

"I'm glad you did. I don't know where I'd be without you."

"You would be just fine," I said firmly. "On the other hand, I would be…I don't even know. I'd still be that same unyielding jerk with a stick up my ass. I wouldn't be friends with so many great people. And I wouldn't be the chief. Hell, I might have even gotten sucked into Moran's little world. I could be in prison right now."

"No," she argued lightly. "You would never have gotten in bed with Moran."

"But that stick would still be there, wouldn't it?" I joked. I pulled her to me so that I could wrap both arms around her. "You're so good for me, Liz. You've changed me in ways I never thought possible."

"It was there all along."

"Maybe," I said thoughtfully. "What made you think about that tonight?"

I was curious, even though I liked that she'd brought it up. Our recent issues had made me more appreciative of her than ever and taking a walk down memory lane, thinking about what had brought us together in the first place, was a good thing.

"I was…telling the others. I hope that's okay," she said almost sheepishly.

"You guys were really getting wild and crazy tonight, huh?" I teased. "Rehashing first date stories?"

"Well, not just first date," she said coyly.

"Not just…then what exactly?"

"I can't tell you. We don't talk…"

"About girls' night," I finished. "So I've heard. But throw me a bone, here."

"I'm not giving details. But yeah, we talk about sex."

"Specifically? You know I work with these people, right?"

"Relax," she said as she moved her hands between us and began undoing my belt buckle. "They were all duly impressed."

"Liz…"

"You want to know something else?"

"I'm almost afraid to ask," I joked.

And maybe it wasn't entirely a joke. Considering the company she'd been in, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

Did Alex talk about her sex life? Carolyn?

"I want to do it out here," she stated as she finally unhooked my belt and pushed my pants from my hips.

"You want…what? Out here? Now?"

Was _this_ an idea she'd gotten from one of them?

"Why not? It's not that cold."

"But…" I began, and then I trailed off as she grabbed onto the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head.

"Don't you want to?" she asked me, pulling off her own shirt as well before wrapping her arms around me again, pressing her warm skin against mine.

"Yeah, of course, but…"

"Stop thinking so much," she whispered.

"I can't help it. We're outside. Anyone could see."

"Anyone like…a neighbor? If one of our neighbors is outside at three o'clock in the morning, looking at our balcony, then he deserves to see a show," she said in her typical no-nonsense fashion.

It was the same way she might spout off about an interesting bit of trace evidence or a cause of death.

I had to laugh.

"You make a good argument," I said as I pushed my inhibitions from my mind. "And you're impossible to resist."

"Then quit trying."

So I did.

Quit trying, that is.

And I did make love to her out on the balcony.

She'd been right to want to try it.

I've always been fairly traditional in the past and now I was starting to see that maybe I'd been missing out.

_Of course_ I'd been missing out.

It was like every other aspect of my life.

Liz made it exponentially better.

**

* * *

**

Lupo POV

"So you outted them?" Connie asked me in amusement as I circled the block to find a parking space near our building. "In front of Ross?"

"I didn't mean to. I didn't know they'd been on a date. Did you?"

"I suspected. The basketball game, remember?"

"I forgot about that," I admitted.

"Well, it was just a guess. I didn't know for sure until tonight."

"I don't know what he's so worried about. They're not doing anything wrong."

"Maybe he just wanted to keep it to himself for a little while," she reasoned. "Isn't that what you did when we started dating?"

"Yeah, well, I was just trying to save myself the embarrassment. It was only a matter of time before you dumped me, so I figured that if I kept it a secret at least I wouldn't suffer public humiliation in addition to having my heart broken."

"I think there's a sweet sentiment in there somewhere," she teased. I finally found an empty spot, so I parked the car and cut off the engine.

"Purely by accident, I'm sure. I'm not sweet."

"You are so sweet," she argued. Then she tilted her head and looked at me carefully before adding, "And so _old_."

"Oh, you think you're funny, don't you?"

I got out of the car and went around to open her door for her. But instead of getting out, she grabbed onto my shirt and pulled me to her.

"Are you going to try to say you're not old?" she asked playfully, alternating her words with kisses. Then she dropped her tone to a whisper and said, "Because I hear that you're _forty_."

"How much did you have to drink tonight?" I questioned, tasting the margarita on her lips.

But whatever her answer, I wasn't complaining. I loved when she teased.

"Enough for me to tell them about how we celebrated your birthday," she replied.

"You…you told everyone _that_?" I asked.

"Well, it was pretty incredible," she said coyly. "And Liz started talking about Ross, and so I had to…"

"Wait, Liz was talking about Ross? You mean, sex?"

"Yeah, Lupo," she said on a laugh. "They do have sex, you know."

"I know, but…do they have to talk about it?"

She pulled me down for another kiss and this one had me completely forgetting about my boss.

"Come on," she said when she broke the kiss. "Let's go inside. I have a present for you."

"Another one?"

"An actual one," she answered as she got out of the car. I closed the door and took her hand and together we went into the building. "I should've given it to you yesterday," she continued. "Since now it's not really your birthday anymore, but…"

"It's close enough," I assured her.

We went through the lobby and got on the elevator.

"Do I get a hint?" I asked her after the doors closed. She stepped into me, wrapping her arms around me beneath my jacket.

"No."

"Nothing at all?"

"We'll be there in five more minutes," she reminded me. "You can wait. Old people are good at waiting."

"I'll show you old," I said with a smile. I ran my hand up her back and into her hair, tipping her head up towards mine. I kissed her hard as the teasing mood was replaced with full-on desire.

And then I felt her phone buzzing. It was in her jacket pocket, which was now pressed between us.

"Sorry," she said as she pulled back and reached for her phone. "I can't imagine who it is at this time of night."

The elevator had reached our floor, so we got out and walked down the hall to our apartment.

"It's an email," she said as I pulled out my key. "Oh my God…"

"What is it?"

"It's…here. Look."

I took the phone from her outstretched hand and read the message.

_**Two dead ADA's. It's a shame one wasn't you. Maybe the third time's a charm. Don't forget – I know where you live." **_

"Is this the first email?" I asked her.

"Yes. I haven't had anything except that one phone call. I promise."

"This is your personal account," I remarked as I reread the message. "Who would have this?"

"I don't know. A lot of people, I guess. It's not a secret."

"But it's not published either. It's not on your business cards."

"No. Lupo, do you think…does he really know where we live?"

We were still standing in the hall, so I quickly unlocked the door. We went inside and were greeted enthusiastically by Otto, but I absently patted his head as I thought about this latest threat.

Did it actually have something to do with the other murders?

"I don't know," I answered vaguely as I locked up behind us.

Then I had the thought to make a quick pass around the apartment. I didn't actually expect to find anyone hiding since Otto seemed unconcerned, but it was a remote possibility.

"Wait in the kitchen," I told her, and then I headed off to check behind every door.

All was clear and appeared undisturbed.

"I'm calling Bernard," I said as I joined her in the kitchen.

"Wait," she said, putting her hand on my arm. "It was just a threat. It doesn't have anything to do with the other murders."

"You can't know that for sure."

"Lauren said that they'd narrowed it down to a jealous husband or some guy that they'd put in prison. I wouldn't tie in to either of those scenarios. I never even knew the first guy, and I never worked any cases with Lee."

I thought about it for a moment and took the time to just breathe.

Why did something bad always have to interrupt our happy lives? It had been a great birthday, a great night in general, and now this.

"I still think I should call," I said, although I didn't try to dial. I waited for her to agree. "What if they're wrong about the motive? This could change the parameters of their investigation."

She held my gaze, her eyes full of worry and unease. I settled my hand on her cheek and gave her an encouraging nod.

"If you don't want me to call, then I won't," I continued. "I know it was just an email and it's possible that I'm overreacting."

"But?"

"But I'd feel a lot better if someone more objective tells me that I'm overreacting. I think we should tell Bernard and then in the morning, I'm going to call my black ops shit guy and see what he can find about the origin of this email. If that's okay."

She closed her eyes and sighed, but then gave me a nod.

"Okay. It would be irresponsible to sit on it considering the slim possibility that it will affect their investigation."

"And I can call Mulder?"

"Yes," she said, finally smiling. "Call your basement toolsmith and let him hack the inner workings of the internet super-highway."

I stepped closer to her, trapping her body between me and the counter.

"Thank you," I said as I leaned in to kiss her. "I need to catch this guy. I know that there are always vague threats out there, but this is real. We need to take care of it."

"I know," she agreed. "But call Bernard in the morning. It's almost three. He's either home…or _not_…but either way, I don't want to interrupt. It can wait. We're safe here. And I have you to protect me, right?"

"I will protect you until my dying day," I promised.

"See? You are sweet," she replied softly. "You can't help yourself, can you?"

"Maybe I just want my present," I said, finally able to relax marginally.

No one had been here. And if someone tried to come in now, then he'd be in for a rude awakening.

So she was right.

We were safe.

For now.

TBC...


	80. Chapter 80

**Logan POV**

* * *

"Did you tell her about Jack?" I asked Carolyn as we walked together with Bobby and Alex. We were heading up the stairs, out of the subway station, on our way home from Ross' house.

"Jack Quarles?" Bobby asked.

His mind amazed me. We hadn't made mention of the man in almost six months, and yet he knew immediately who I was talking about.

Of course, I'd known right away which Jack, too, but admittedly I had a bigger stake in keeping up with the guy.

Not only for what he'd done, but for who he'd been.

He was a former lover of my wife.

"Yes," Carolyn said to him and then she turned to me and said, "And no. I wasn't going to get into that tonight."

"Oh," I began, an apology on the tip of my tongue. But she quickly shook her head and said, "It's okay."

"What about him?" Alex asked.

"He's not going to prison. Apparently he made a deal with the feds. In exchange for his testimony against Richard Slater, Jack will be getting probation plus time served."

"Good ol' Dick, huh?" I said wryly. "I wonder how he's going to like Leavenworth."

"I can't believe they made a deal," Alex said in disbelief. "We had enough evidence on Slater. They shouldn't have needed his testimony."

"I know," Carolyn agreed. "But he's a retired Marine. And he was with the Asheville Police Department. I guess they bought the idea that he was suckered into the whole thing by Slater."

"But he killed Slater's wife."

"And they can't prove it. He's getting a walk."

"The Secret Service called to let you know?" Bobby questioned dubiously.

See what I mean? His mind is a steel trap, even after a night of drinking scotch.

"Not exactly," Carolyn admitted.

"Jack wrote her a letter," I said.

"What did it say?"

"It was a thank you letter," she told them. "He wanted to let me know how much he appreciated my help in the investigation."

"That's it?" Bobby asked.

"He said that he owes her one," I said.

"So he threatened you," Alex stated.

"It's ambiguous. The words themselves seem sincere."

"Yeah, but we know he's full of shit," I added.

I'd been pretty upset when she first got the letter.

That was yesterday. We hadn't even had a full week to enjoy _not_ being the target of some psycho and now here was another blast from the past, back to make our lives miserable.

Although Carolyn said that I was overreacting.

"What's he going to do, Mike? He's on probation. If he breaks even one law, he's going to prison."

"Good, so let's get a restraining order against him. Then he'll be breaking a law if he comes too close to you."

"You honestly think he's going to try to track me down in New York just to get payback?"

"There's no tracking down to be done," I reminded her. "He has our address. And if you recall, he brought you in on that case because he thought you'd help him. And he thought you'd sleep with him."

"Well, he was wrong on both counts."

"Uh huh. And I'm not sure which aspect pissed him off more."

"Well, the fact that I wouldn't sleep with him, I'm sure," she quipped.

"Probably," I agreed, although I was being serious. "So do me a favor. Get a restraining order, okay?"

She'd agreed, and together we'd taken care of that this morning.

I told Alex and Bobby that we'd done so, and they both nodded in agreement.

"Good thinking," Alex said. "Not that a TRO ever really stops anyone, but at least you're taking all of the right steps."

"What was the postmark on the letter?" Bobby asked.

"Washington, D.C.," she replied.

"So he's not still in North Carolina," Alex mused. "I'm not sure I like that."

"I'm pretty sure I don't like any of this," I said.

By this time, we'd come up top and were just standing on the street, finishing our discussion. I'd hated to bring up the topic since it had been such an enjoyable night, but I also wanted them to know. They'd been involved in the case, too.

"Keep us posted," Alex said. "And actually keep us posted this time. Not like you did with the Watkins case."

"There were extenuating circumstances," I reminded her.

"I don't care if I fall from a thirty story building," she argued. "Don't keep secrets."

"Yes ma'am," I complied with a grin. I hugged her carefully and then shook Bobby's hand.

"We'll catch up with you guys tomorrow?" Carolyn questioned. I watched as Alex and Bobby looked at each other before turning back towards us.

"Make it Sunday," Bobby said. "We'll meet for dinner."

"Unless you hear from Quarles," Alex added. "And then you call immediately. Right?"

I nodded in agreement and then put my arm around Carolyn's shoulders and together we headed for home.

"I'm sorry for bringing that up," I said as we made the walk.

"It's fine. I guess I was just blocking it out."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Did you have a good time tonight?"

"Margaritas and drunken confessions. What's not to like?"

"What did you confess?" I asked her in a conspiratorial voice.

"Why do you always think that I'm going to tell you?" she replied with a smile, bumping me with her hip.

"One of these days you're going to be drunk enough that the answer will just come out of you without forethought."

"You think?"

"No," I admitted. Carolyn rarely did anything without forethought, drunk or not.

"Okay, I'll tell you. Mary told us all about her first time with John, and so then, since you and he look so much alike, we had to go into a detailed analysis of every physical attribute that each of you possess so that we could determine where exactly the differences lie," she said matter-of-factly. And then she smirked and added, "Other than eye color, I mean."

I barked out a laugh and shook my head.

"Sweetheart, I do _not_ want to know how that turned out. So never mind. Don't tell me."

"You know I'm teasing," she said quietly. "Although I did have to confess that it's been two days since we made love."

"You had to confess that?"

"Well, there was a competition. Sort of."

"Who won?"

"Connie."

"I'll have to make sure that I give you reason to win next time," I promised.

"Good. You know how I hate to lose."

By this time, we were back at our house. I unlocked the door and turned off the alarm, resisting the urge to do a once-over of the place. After all, it had only been an hour since I'd left with the others to go to Ross' house.

_And Chesley's in prison_, I reminded myself.

So was Willie, since he'd had two broken knuckles as a result of his assault on Lonnie, not to mention that his prints had been on the golf clubs.

And he was eighteen. It wasn't going to be juvie for him. It would be Rikers.

So there was no reason in the world why anyone would be messing with us tonight.

Although there was the matter of Jack...

"We have some cleaning to do," Carolyn remarked as she went into the dining room. I forced my thoughts back to the present and followed her gaze to the table that was littered with cards and chips, as well as discarded cigars and empty glasses.

"Tomorrow," I said, coming up behind her. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.

Tomorrow we'd clean, _and_ I'd find out Jack's present location...but not tonight.

"It is tomorrow," she reminded me. "It's almost three."

"Uh huh. And I don't know about you, but I can think of a few ways that I'd rather cap off this night than washing dishes and emptying ash trays."

"Yeah? Like what?" she asked, turning in my arms.

"Strip poker?" I suggested with a grin.

"Do you really want to go through the exercise of dealing cards?" she replied as she ran one hand behind my head, pulling me down so that she could kiss me.

I backed her up until she was against the table, while at the same time, I worked to pull her shirt from the waistband of her pants.

"Are you afraid to lose?" I challenged.

"I don't lose," she stated emphatically.

I reached behind her and picked up two cards from the table.

"Oh hey, look at that. Blackjack," I said, showing her the cards. Then I tossed them over my shoulder and pulled her shirt off of her.

"So you're going to cheat, huh?" she replied.

"If it gets me what I want? Absolutely."

I swept my arm across the table behind her, shoving obstacles out of the way, and then I put picked her up and set her on the table.

"You got rid of the cards. So this is all you want?"

"There are a few left," I countered, leaning down to kiss her while I reached toward the center of the table and grabbed the rest of the deck. She moved her hands to my belt, but I pulled away.

"Uh uh. You have to win first," I said, handing her a card. "High card."

She turned hers over and showed it to me.

"Ten. Not bad," I remarked, and then I flipped mine over. "But it doesn't beat a king. Sorry, sweetheart, but the pants have got to go."

"Were you this lucky earlier?" she asked, chuckling at my exuberance as I pulled her jeans from her body.

"No, but that's fine. If I was only going to get lucky once, I'm glad it's now. What's money when I can have you?"

I stood back a moment, appreciating the sight in front of me. I wondered idly if she would tell her friends about this.

_If she did, I probably wouldn't get anyone to attend poker nights at my house any more_, I thought with a chuckle.

But that was fine.

There was something about seeing her, nearly naked amidst the remnants of the overtly masculine ritual.

"So are you going to have me?" she asked coyly. "Or are you just going to watch?"

"I'm still dressed," I replied.

She pulled the rest of the cards from my hand and without looking at the them, declared, "Royal flush. I win."

She flung the cards behind her and grabbed for my belt again, this time undoing it and pulling my pants from me without hesitation. My shirt followed and then she urged me onto the table with her.

It was a sturdy piece of furniture, one we'd used for just this type of activity many times in the past, so I had no problem scooting her more towards the middle and then getting onto my knees next to her.

"You win?" I questioned as I slipped my hand beneath her underwear, dragging the piece of silk down her legs. "I don't think so, sweetheart. I definitely win."

**

* * *

**

Alex POV

"Fall from a thirty story building?" Bobby asked me after we'd left Mike and Carolyn. "I don't need that image in my head."

"I'm sorry," I replied. "What kind of image would you prefer?"

"I'm hoping that I won't need the image in my head. I'm thinking that soon enough, you'll be naked in our rooftop garden."

"You want to go up to the roof?"

"It's a nice night. We haven't been up there in awhile. And that way, we can watch the sunrise."

"You're feeling romantic tonight," I stated with a smile.

"What can I say? You bring it out in me."

"Or maybe it's just the fact that it's been a week," I reminded him.

"No, that makes me want to ravage you right here on the sidewalk," he countered, and as he said the words, he stopped and turned to me, bringing his lips down to mine.

I was immediately overwhelmed by the taste of him, that incredibly arousing, deliciously sweet taste of good Scotch. I don't care much for drinking it, but tasting it on Bobby is another experience entirely.

Common sense left me as I wrapped my good arm around him and then went up on my toes so that I could deepen the kiss.

He shoved his hands into my hair, holding my head in place as he skillfully worked his mouth over mine. Then he stepped into me and I could feel him, hard and insistent, pushing up against me.

It was insane how much I wanted him.

He finally pulled his mouth away from mine and when I met his gaze, I was struck by the raw need in his eyes.

He was right there with me, just like always. It amazed me to think about how long we'd denied ourselves. What a waste of time that had been.

"Come on," he said, taking my good hand and turning towards our building. "I don't know how much longer I can hold out."

"I hope for longer than a few minutes," I teased. "The sun won't be up for a couple of hours."

"I'll make good use of our time," he promised. As if I needed more stimulus to get me aroused. I was so close to the edge from that kiss that just the sound of his voice was almost enough to do it.

We hustled down the sidewalk, as fast as we could go without looking like we were actually running, and finally made it back to our building. Once inside, we took the elevator to the top floor and then went to the stairwell.

"There might be other people up here," I commented as we climbed the last flight.

"Then we'll go back down," he said easily. "I'm not going to be picky about the venue, Alex."

"Feeling a little anxious?"

"Feeling a lot anxious. I've been thinking about this all night."

"Me, too. And then I had to sit there and listen to everyone else talk about their recent experiences and all the while I was just thinking about what I wanted to do to you."

"Which is what, exactly?" he asked as he opened the door to the roof.

I'd almost forgotten how much I like this place.

It was beautiful, even more so than it had been the last time we were up here. That had been the night we came home from Denver, the same time that assassin had broken into our apartment.

That night, us coming to the roof had potentially saved our lives.

Hopefully this night would be less dramatic.

"I just wanted to get you alone," I admitted.

"For the purpose of what?" he teased as we headed for the bench. The same bench where we'd made love the last time.

"I think it might be better if I showed you," I replied. He stopped in front of the bench and held out his arms.

"I'm all yours."

It was like being offered my heart's desires.

I had no idea where to start.

And it didn't matter that we'd done this hundreds of times over the past six months.

Every time had meaning.

This time, it was regaining our connection of physical intimacy after having to abstain for so long.

And yes, I'm going to say that a week is a long time.

My former self would've laughed uncontrollably at that thought, kind of like Hayes had tonight. But to me, now, a week was an interminable amount of time.

But even so, I wanted to take it slow. Now that we were so close, drawing out the anticipation was only going to make it better.

So I stood in front of him and wrapped my arm around him, hugging him as best I could while pressing my face against the fabric of his shirt. I breathed in deeply, the lingering scent of his cologne mixed perfectly with the smell of the cigar.

The only thing that would make the smell even better was to add to it the scent of his skin.

So I pulled back and looked up at him.

"I'd do this for you, but…" I said, tugging at the buttons on his shirt.

He smiled at me and reached down to undo the buttons.

Slowly, deliberately…he'd picked up on my need to take our time.

And maybe that wasn't the best tactic when we were in a public place, but I was willing to take the risk.

So was he.

He pulled off his shirt and set it on the bench behind us, and at my encouraging nod, then he took off his t-shirt, too.

"Is this better?" he asked me. I pulled him to me again, pressing my lips against his chest.

"Much. I love the way you smell," I said on a sigh.

He brought his hands up my back and into my hair again, holding me tightly against him.

"I just love you. Period."

The sincerity with which he said the words sent a fresh rush of arousal through me and I was once again overcome with need.

I released my hold on him and reached up to kiss him, rekindling the heat that we'd created out on the sidewalk.

My thoughts of a slow and steady pace were gone as he expertly explored my mouth with his.

I reached between us and struggled with his belt buckle, but still managed to undo it with one hand.

The button was another story, though, and I tugged at it in frustration until at last he brought one hand down to help me push the metal through the hole.

_The sign of a great partnership_, I thought with an internal smirk.

He knew what I needed without me having to say a word.

Which was good, because I didn't want to stop kissing him. He was so good at it, so passionate, as though he could think of nothing else.

With his pants undone, I was able to push them off his hips. They stopped around his knees, but I didn't take the time to get them further.

Instead, I slipped my hand beneath the fabric of his boxers, running my fingers over the silky length of him. He tore his mouth away from mine, sucking in a harsh breath as he buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"It's going to be over quickly if you keep that up," he warned. "It's been a week, remember?"

"How could I forget?" I replied, but I continued my gentle assault on him for another minute before I forced myself to stop.

"Sit down," I directed. The bench was right behind him, so he took a short step backwards and sat on the concrete surface. I stepped up close to him and he immediately began working on getting my jeans off.

"Do you know how hard it's been to dress and undress you all week?" he asked me as he slid his hands beneath the denim, shoving both the jeans and underwear down my legs. "While not being able to do anything?"

"How hard has it been?" I asked suggestively. I stepped out of the pants and then he put his hands on my hips, guiding me onto his lap.

"You and your dirty mind," he said, chuckling and shaking his head. "You know what I mean."

"I do," I agreed. And then I shifted positions, just enough so that I was no longer sitting with him pressed up against me.

Now he was fully inside.

_Finally_.

I started up a slow rhythm and he closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the bench.

"You've been really great," I said quietly. "I know I've been cranky and difficult and…thank you."

"Don't thank me," he said, bringing his eyes to mine. "You'd do the same for me. You've _done_ the same for me. We're a team. That's how it works."

"We do make a good team," I agreed as he settled his hands on my thighs, urging an increased pace.

I kept my good hand on the back of the bench for leverage and then leaned down to kiss him as the intensity rose to a frantic level.

As our rhythm increased, I finally dropped my head against his, each of us breathing heavily but neither of us ready to stop. He drove up into me over and over as I got closer and closer to the brink until I was _right there_…but I had to make sure he was there with me.

Teamwork, after all.

"Bobby," I managed to say.

"Yeah," he answered, knowing exactly what I'd been asking.

"Harder," I encouraged.

He obliged immediately and moments later I bit back a scream and instead just said his name on a long, reverent sigh.

"Was that worth the wait?" I asked him after we'd each taken a moment to catch our breath. I relaxed against him with my head on his shoulder.

"You're always worth the wait. A day, a week, a year…I'll always wait for you."

"And you always say the sweetest things."

"I'm telling you, Alex. You bring out the best of me," he insisted as he ran his hand over my hair. "So how's the shoulder? Is it okay?"

"That was the perfect position. It didn't hurt at all."

"Are you just saying that so I won't be opposed to an encore performance?"

"No," I answered, and then I couldn't resist teasing him. "Are you _up_ for an encore performance?"

"Give me ten minutes and I'll be up for anything," he replied.

"I'll give you all the time in the world," I said, echoing his sentiment from moments ago.

We sat together in silence for a few minutes, each lost in our own thoughts, but I had a feeling that I knew where his mind had traveled.

"Do you think this Jack Quarles thing is something we need to worry about?" I asked him.

"You need to take that mind-reading act of yours on the road," he said.

"I can't read everyone's. Just yours."

"Yeah? What am I thinking now?" he questioned in a suggestive tone.

"Nice try. You're still wondering if that letter means Jack's looking for revenge."

"You're right," he admitted. "It does worry me. Why bother sending the letter if he had no plan to follow up?"

"What do you think we should do about it?"

"I'd like to get a look at the letter. The handwriting may give an indication as to his mood when he wrote it."

"You mean did he nearly puncture the paper with his pen because he was so hostile?"

"Something like that. Mike and Carolyn are probably too close to be objective. We should tell them to bring it with them when we meet for dinner tomorrow night."

"Okay," I agreed. "Did you know that it was Lupo's birthday today? Or rather, yesterday?"

"I didn't know until we got to the poker game," he answered. "We should invite him and Connie to dinner, too. As a birthday thing."

"And to get another set of eyes on the letter, as well as an attorney's opinion on what additional steps we can take to make sure that Jack doesn't bother Carolyn, right?"

"Wow, you really can read my mind."

"It's not that hard. We think alike."

"Yes we do," he said quietly as he continued to stroke my hair. "So, Ross said that he's putting our name back into the rotation on Monday. Are you ready to pick up another case?"

"The first one back really turned out to be something, didn't it?" I remarked thoughtfully. "Can you imagine what would've happened if we hadn't gone back to Major Case?"

"Well, Ross would've given the case to Lupo and Bernard and then we would've butted in anyway," he answered. "So it probably wouldn't have ended up that much different."

"True," I said, unable to keep from smiling.

As difficult and stressing as the case had been, I was glad that we'd been able to catch the killer, and that in a backwards way, it was ultimately going to help Kevin get his life turned around.

"Oh, and Bishop got demoted," Bobby added. "I almost forgot to tell you that."

"She did? For what she said to Ross?"

"Well, that, and for how she treated us during our investigation. I mean, she almost let Skinny get away just because she was being territorial. And it's not like he turned out to be all that helpful, but he could have."

"So where is she now?"

"She's writing parking tickets in the Bronx."

"She's a meter maid?" I asked, pulling back from Bobby so that I could look at him. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod and a slow smile. "I almost feel bad, but…not really."

"I don't feel bad. She was completely unprofessional. And she was going to end up getting herself killed in Narcotics. It's not a division for incompetent detectives."

"No, you're right about that."

I ran my hand over the heavy stubble on his face and then I leaned in to kiss him. I took my time with it, enjoying the feel of his soft lips against mine, and then I pulled back and smiled at him.

"Maybe I'll have to go park illegally in the Bronx," I said wryly.

"You want her to write you a ticket?"

"I might want to let her try to write me a ticket," I countered. "And then maybe I can ask her what her problem is with me."

"It bothers you, doesn't it?"

"I don't lose any sleep over it, if that's what you mean. But it is baffling. I never did anything to her. In fact, I thought I was pretty nice about offering her guidance on how to be the partner of a genius."

"There's only one woman up to that task," he replied. Then he looked over my shoulder and added, "The sun's getting ready to come up. We're supposed to be making love while that happens."

"I'm ready. Are you?"

"It's been more than ten minutes. I think I'm good."

"I know you're good," I said as I reached a hand between us and clasped it around him. "You are definitely good."

I let go of him and shifted positions, taking him in completely. Both of us let out a contented sigh at the feeling.

It just never got old.

But we didn't watch the sunrise.

Instead, we watched each other as we put our teamwork skills to good use.

By the time we finished, the rooftop was lit with the dusky early morning light.

"Are you ready to go to bed?" he asked me.

"I think so. At least we don't have to worry about Ross waking us up, right?" I remarked as we headed for the stairwell door. "Not today anyway."

The words had barely left my mouth when Bobby's cell phone started to ring. He was only wearing his boxers, but he reached into the pocket of his pants that he was carrying and found his phone.

"You're not going to believe this," he said as he held up the display.

"Ross? Are you kidding me? Let me get it."

He shrugged and handed me his phone as we walked down the stairs.

"We are not on the schedule," I said by way of greeting. "And we haven't slept yet, so…"

"Alex," he interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"I know you're not on. And I know you're tired, and that you're not back to full capacity yet, but…I need you two on this."

"On what? What is it?" I asked, stopping in the stairwell and putting my hand on Bobby's arm to get his attention.

"My son's in trouble. He's been arrested," he stated.

"In Baltimore?"

Ross' son was a freshman at Johns Hopkins.

"Yes. Liz and I are headed down there now."

"What do you want us to do?"

"I need you to come down. I won't be able to assist in the investigation, but I'm hoping that I can clear the way to let you two get involved."

"Investigation," I repeated. "For what? What's the charge?"

"Murder."

**

* * *

**

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N: As always, a tremendous thank you to Mitzvahgirl. I have no doubt that she now dreads seeing my emails in her inbox, and yet she continues to respond anyway, offering suggestions and guidance and corrections for my many grammatical errors :)**

**And of course, thanks to all who are still reading and reviewing!**


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